


Fated to Love

by hinori92



Category: Code Geass, SuzaLulu - Fandom
Genre: Angst, BL, Drama, Family, Fanfiction, Fluff, M/M, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Romance, SuzaLulu - Freeform, Tragedy, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 18:51:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17048666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hinori92/pseuds/hinori92
Summary: Are they really meant to be? How will they remain together with the war around them?





	1. Lelouch

**Author's Note:**

> Again, another old work of mine. This time it consists of a few chapters. I did a little bit of editing here and there. It's not very obvious, but at least it made the work slightly better... I hope... If you do like it, I would love to receive some kudos. TQ! :)

There were screams all around me. They were running, all the elders and the young. Some were holding their children, some carrying their babies, but one was left behind. A boy of age less than 7, maybe, was sitting in the middle of the running crowd. He was screaming loud cries but no one cared. His parents must have left him out or did not even bother to turn back to search at all.

A tall man came and carried the boy into his arms. That man did not looked very old nor too young, but he sure has a kind heart. He was looking around from left to right. Maybe he was searching for the kid’s parents. Then, he stopped his stare at me.

I was sitting on the ground, back against the wall, almost out of breath. The screams had made my head dizzy and heavy. Even my visions are getting blurry. I did not care about running anymore. If the plane came crashing this place, I would die and be buried here under the concretes. Losing all hopes, I shut my eyes, giving up on life.

Just then, I felt a sudden shake on my right shoulder. I opened my eyes slightly to see who it was. It was the kid’s hero and the kid himself in the man’s arm. The man was saying something but I could not make any sense out of it. The man mumbled something again but I did not respond. My eyes were shut tight. The strong shake on my shoulder stopped few seconds later. Instead, I felt a hand behind my back and another under my knees. 

I was lifted. I did not know where we were heading to. With all the screams and dizziness, I fell into a coma.

I cracked open my dry eyes after somewhat long time I had been sleeping. Everything was grey and I thought I was dead. I tried pushing myself up but it could not work, there was no strength left in me. I groaned as I felt a pain on my leg. I tried to feel the injury but instead, I touched a bandage. I could tell from the touch, that the bandage was only a temporary one, done with a ragged cloth.

Then, I heard a gentle voice ringing.

“You’re awake?” asked that man. I turned slightly to look at him beside me. I knew I had seen him before but I could not recall a thing. Then, a little boy’s head popped out from behind the man, with his puffy red eyes staring down at me. He, too, looked familiar but I did not want to hurt my brain to search for any clues.

“Why...am I still alive?” I asked with my raspy voice, though I knew it was quite an unreasonable one. His eyes gave me a look of curiosity. Yet, he still answered me with that gentle voice and smile.

“I’m a soldier and it’s my job to save people out of danger.”

He was lying and I knew, else why would not he save the innocents who died in the war?

I turned my gaze towards the little boy without replying that man. The skinny boy was munching bread and the bread crumbs fell onto the man’s shoulder, making the already ragged blue jacket with unneeded design.

Suddenly, the man sitting beside me held out his left hand and touched my forehead. I shook my head to shove away his hand. He smiled and said, “Thank goodness! Your fever had gone down.”

I scolded him, “Mind your own business.” I turned to look at the wall without moving my body. I never even cared about myself, so why must he be such a busybody?

Without referring back, I could hear whispers from behind but did not bother to find out what. Soon, he started to talk again.

“I bet you’re hungry. Here, I’ve cooked some porridge. Want to try?”

I could smell the porridge as it was nearing me. Then, there was the smell that I could not resist. I tilted my head a little while looking at that person.

I asked, “Is it...good?”

He chuckled, “It’s my first time cooking it. I’m not sure if it suits your taste, but Gino likes it.”

The little boy stood beside the man after passing the bowl of porridge to that man. He nodded softly while biting on a small biscuit. Looking at the cracked bowl with full gaze upon it, with the smell that I could not resist, I asked him, embarrassingly, “Can you…help me up?”

The man responded by putting his left arm on my back and supported me to sit up. Then, he laid me against the wall and started feeding me slowly.

After the first scoop, I commented sarcastically, “It’s not salty enough.” He laughed and promised to add some the next time if they had some.

I was surprised that I could actually finish the whole bowl of tasteless porridge. Maybe it was the hunger that forced me into such desperation. After putting the bowl back beside the fire place, he patted Gino to sleep. I stared blankly into the fire. Flash backs of my memories once again filled my mind.

From within the fire, there was a lady of age around 50, who was stroking a boy’s hair. They were having a good time chatting while warming up in front of the fire place. The scene then moved its place where people were firing bullets towards her while the kid was hiding behind a thick wardrobe. The kid came out from the hiding place after the firings had ended. He was stunned and shocked after seeing his mother’s body full of blood and her eyes were wide opened. The kid screamed and brought me back to reality.

The man was sitting beside me now, though I did not realize when. He looked at me with a worried stare.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“Did you not hear me?” he asked gently.

“Sorry, I was thinking of something just now.”

“It’s alright,” he said. “I was asking for your name.”

“Is it important?” I was a bit irritated as I dislike strangers knowing my name.

“Well, it’ll be easy for me to call you,” he replied, and smiled.

I gave up the urge to fight back and told him my name.

“Lelouch...”

“Ok, Lelouch,” he smiled. “I’m Suzaku.” He held out his hand to offer a hand shake.

I looked at my hand but could not lift it up. I felt a slight blush of embarrassment, again.

The man, who called himself Suzaku, took my hand and shook it.

“Nice to meet you,” he said.

Then, we started to chat. I did not know when the conversation ended. It should be after we dozed off unknowingly.

It was one tired day for us, after all.

 

_TBC_


	2. Suzaku

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be written from Suzaku's point of view.

I woke up after sensing the bright rays shining into my eyes. I sat up slowly and stretched. Gino was still soundly asleep on my right, and so was that young man of my age. Silently, I prepared breakfast. I took out my last match, lit up the fire, dug out 2 pieces of bread from the ragged bag and started heating them up.

When the buns were almost done, Gino crawled out from his sleep while rubbing an eye. He looked at me and smiled. Smiling back in reply, I brought him a bun which I wrapped it in a cloth.

“Be careful. It’s hot,” I warned him.

He nodded and started to blow the bun to cool it down first before munching it.

Then, I heard some rustles coming from the young man, Lelouch. He was awake but he did not move his body. He must have strained his muscle.

I walked to him and helped him to sit up against the wall.

“Ugh!” he groaned and I quickly apologized to avoid being scolded. Maybe I accidentally hurt his injury.

“It’s alright,” he said, almost sounded like a whisper.

Lelouch is a person with quite a serious attitude, but I find him interesting. He was the first man, whom I thought, to be very much different from the others. After settling him down, I went to take the other bun and fed him. Bit by it, I pinched the bun and put it into his mouth. He munched at it slowly.

He was quiet today, a bit too quiet from yesterday. I was worried, hopefully the injury did not give him a great impact.

After a few times of feeding, Lelouch shook his head and said, “You can have it. I’m full.”

I stared at him, and then back to the bread, and back to him.

“It’s only a quarter of the bun you’ve eaten. How can you be full with such small amount of food?”

He then gave me a weird…no…interesting reply.

“I’ve stored some porridge yesterday,” he chuckled. “You can have it. I know you’ve not eaten yet.”

“I ate before you’re awake,” I replied, but my stomach betrayed me. It growled. Lelouch laughed softly.

“You’re a no good liar,” he smirked.

I smiled and admitted defeat. I swallowed the whole bun without even chewing it first. Lelouch looked at me with disbelief.

“It’s too small for me to bite,” I told him straight and laughed. Well, the bun was only the size of my fist. He chuckled and shook his head lightly. Gino joined in the laughter while not knowing what was going on.

After we finished our breakfast, I piggybacked Lelouch while Gino walked beside me, clutching onto my jacket.

The sky was cloudy but it did not look like it would rain. Maybe it was playing its role to sadden the atmosphere of this lifeless town. This town, which had worn out, was the place where the war broke out. Broken windows, fallen buildings, and dead corpses were all that was left.

“Where are we heading to?” asked Lelouch, almost breathless. He is a young man, but very weak, lifeless and very lack of energy.

“To my friend’s place,” I replied.

“A friend? Can that person be trusted?”

“Well, he does seem like a suspicious character, but he’s trustworthy.”

 “We still have to be careful.”

 “Yeah, I will.”

 Suddenly, Gino’s grip tightened. I looked at him and noticed his eyes were wide open in fear.

 “What’s the matter?” Lelouch asked.

 “Look,” I said, as I followed Gino’s gaze to a human corpse, black and dead, which was being eaten by a wild (maybe desperate) bloodhound.

 “Stop staring. Get us out of here, now!” urged Lelouch. I put my arm around Gino’s shoulder and pushed him to walk quickly away from that scene.

* * *

It was almost evening when we finally reached another town. We did stopped half way as Gino could not keep up with us, and Lelouch wanted to get down for a moment to let me rest. He’s a nice guy and considerate too. Maybe I was wrong for judging him for being a bit too serious.

“We’ve finally reached,” I exclaimed and was very relieved that we were now in a different town. It was not a very pretty town, at least not as bad as the last town.

We walked towards the faded white house with an almost destroyed wooden door. I knocked the door twice, but there were no response. I knocked it once again, but louder this time. Few minutes later, the door creaked open a little to show an eye looking out through that tiny opening. I was about to call him but the door shut back.

Lelouch frowned and complained, “So disrespectful.”

Before I could knock the door again, it opened. I wanted to explain our purpose for being there, but I was shut by a finger on my lips.

“Shh! Come in, and make it quick.”

I nodded and allowed Gino to go in first before we followed behind. That man made sure that the coast was clear before shutting the door, quick but silently. He then lashed the door with 50 types of locks, and brought us into an underground room with a candle.

It was dark at first, only later did it became bright when that weirdo finally found the switch and switched it on. The room looked like a ward with laboratory appliances.

He offered us to sit while he stood waiting at his desk. I slowly put Lelouch down on the chair before sitting beside him. Gino stood beside me, still not wanting to let me go. That incident must have given him a big impact.

“So, what is it, Vice?” that man, whose name is Lloyd, asked with a grin. His little eyes behind that round glasses and his white hair just do not match, but I did not have time to bother about it.

“Call me Suzaku for the meantime,” I told him with a stare. “My friend here is unable to move around and he had a deep cut on his thigh. Can you treat him?”

“Hm…” Lloyd examined Lelouch very closely, from top to bottom and back to the top again. Then, he stopped his stare at the untidy bandage. His look was serious at first, but then he grinned when he said, “Well, of course I can, but…”

“I’ll pay you back, I promise,” I replied him in a serious tone. He was not convinced.

“Ah…yes...you’ll pay, of course, but the price…will be very high. You know, his injury, I need to do some surgeries. You know…something like operations and stuffs.”

“Yes, I know. Just tell me if you’ll treat him or not?” I was pissed. It was difficult to convince him in such stage, even with money.

“Of course, surgeries and operations aren’t your specialty, right?” Lelouch suddenly said with a smirk. I stared with disbelief.

“What?! Those ARE my specialties! I’ve been staying here, in this lab, for the rest of my LIFE and you know what? All my experiments involve surgeries and operations!” Lloyd’s face flared up. I, on the other hand, was surprised at Lelouch’s question but it made me worried that Lloyd might just chase us out from here.

“Oh, really? How can you prove that?”

Lloyd snickered, “You’re trying to convince me to treat you, huh?”

“I get it,” Lelouch said. “You just can’t do it. I guess I can’t believe your skills then.” He then turned to me and said, “Suzaku, how can you call him a master of all surgeries and operations, when he doesn’t even dare to operate on such a minor injury? Let’s leave.”

Leave? Deep within my heart, I seriously hoped Lelouch knew what he was doing. Even so, I still put up with his act.

“I...guess I was mistaken. I’m very sorry to bother you, Lloyd. Anyway, thanks for your hospitality. Let’s go, Gino. We’re leaving.” I stood and pretended to kneel down to carry Lelouch when suddenly Lloyd shouted.

“NO! You’re not leaving! I’ll show you my masterpiece!”

“Very well then,” Lelouch grinned and I was very glad that we did not really need to step out from that house.

“But…!”

“Well, what is it? You need some time to get ready?” Lelouch asked sarcastically.

I thought everything was going on well, but the worst part always comes last.

“I want your Knightmare to be my experimental item,” he referred to me.

Oh, great! Why must he always target my Knightmare? It was not like my Knightmare had the best features out of all the others out there.

I looked at Lelouch, who was waiting for my answer. I doubted that he would only want to know my answer though. I took a deep breath and looked back into Lloyd’s eyes.

“Yes, I’ll lend it to you.”

He grinned in delight, but my heart was shattering. No matter, a human’s life is much more important than just a fighting robot.

I carried Lelouch and put him on the bed where Lloyd asked to. Then, I walked back to Gino and put him on my laps. Before Lloyd closed the curtain, he threw me 2 headphones. I looked at it curiously.

He smiled and said, “You’d better not listen to what’s going to happen inside here. It’s also better to not scare the kid.” With that, he closed the curtain and disappeared behind it.

I could not predict what would happen behind there, so I just put them on and also helped Gino to put them on too. Lloyd came out to check one last time before he disappeared once again into the curtains.

The surgery had begun when I heard screams. I was afraid that Gino might hear them and quickly tightened my grip on his headphone. Gino looked at me curiously. I replied him with a smile. Looking back at the closed curtain, I started thinking that, maybe I should not have brought him here.

All the screaming and shouting lasted for almost an hour. When it ended, I was getting worried that Lloyd might have failed the surgery. That time, Gino had already fallen asleep in my arms. Kids are so innocent.

Few seconds later, Lloyd came out from the curtains. He was clean and untouched. I took down my headphones and asked him, “So...?”

Lloyd looked at me and smiled, he said, “He’s sleeping like a log, now. He’ll be able to walk again tomorrow.”

I sighed in relief. I could see Lelouch sleeping soundly on the bed after Lloyd pushed away the curtain. Lelouch’s pain had been paid with a success in the surgery.

All of us slept in the lab that night. Lloyd had prepared sleeping bags for Gino and me, while he slept on the chair with his legs on the desk. Lloyd would not allow us to sleep upstairs as the ‘souls’ would appear to round the roads and houses, or so he said. However, none of them seemed to be able to sense an underground room and so, we were safe.

We left early the next morning, straight after Lelouch had woken up. He claimed that he had an urge to leave that place and I laughed at him while nodding and agreed to get out of the house soon.

Lloyd, though a bit sarcastic and weird at times, still has a kind heart (which would only appear after he had got his benefits). He gave us a small backpack with first aid kit, some energy drinks (some products of his experiments which he said to be healthy) and a few packs of snacks. We thanked him and was about to leave when he gave us a warning.

“I don’t know where you’re heading to, but just in case. If you ever pass by the Town of Whistle, don’t stop for the night. You’ll never know what’ll happen and when it does, you’ll be blaming yourself for even stepping into that place. Goodbye!”

With that, he slammed the door and clicked all the locks. Lelouch and I looked at each other. Both of us were not very clear about Lloyd’s warning. But, nothing much can be done. Then, we left immediately.

* * *

Lelouch was limping slowly as his injury still gave him some pain. His right arm was over my shoulder for support while I carried the backpack. Gino was holding onto my jacket. After an hour of walking, Lelouch asked to stop. He was sort of exhausted. We sat on the doorsteps and rested. Gino was hungry and I pulled out a pack of snack for him. He ate them silently while staring blankly on the ground. None of us talked throughout the whole journey till now, until Lelouch voiced out.

“How far is the next town?”

“If I’m not wrong, we should be able to reach in another 2 hours of walk.”

“Oh, I see.”

That was all and we were back into the silence. I started to feel awkward and wanted to break the silence.

“Err…do you…”

“Who are you?” Lelouch suddenly cut in.

“S-sorry?” I asked and suddenly felt that something was about to come, and I was right.

“What’s your real identity? Why did he call you ‘vice’?” I never knew it would come this soon, but I knew that I would need to explain sooner or later anyways.

I looked at the ground, trying to put the right words into sentences before answering him.

“I’m actually the Vice General of Britannia’s war troop. I’m also referred as Vice Kururugi.” I turned to face him but he was looking at the road. His face was emotionless and I could not read his expression at all. He was silent for a moment.

“So, we lost?” he asked as he turned to look at me. I tried to smile but it was a failure.

“Sort of,” I told him, trying to look away but his stare had locked mine. I suddenly felt my heart beating fast just by staring into those sad, amethyst eyes.

“If so, why’s the war still continuing?”

“I…don’t know,” I did not know what I was answering.

“You don’t know?” he asked with a slight confusion. I quickly snapped out of the stare and looked away from him.

“No! I mean, I was separated from my troop. When I woke up, I only saw fallen buildings around me. It was lucky of me to still be alive, but I’m not sure of my friends and comrades.”

I guess I’m back to myself, or maybe not?

“I see. So, the reason we’re on this journey is in search of your lost troop then?”

“Y-yeah! How did you know?” I asked stupidly.

He grinned, “My sixth sense tells me that the slight blush redness on your cheek is my answer.”

Oh great! Now, my hormones are playing a fool out of me. I did not know what to say, instead, I apologized to him.

“It’s alright,” he replied. “I understand the feeling of losing some precious people of yours, especially those who are close to you.”

“Y-yeah…right…” I lied without looking at him. I did not want my hormones to be out of control.

“You know, Suzaku,” he said suddenly and I turned naturally to face him.

“Y-yes?”

“You’re one interesting and nice man and I have to admit, you’re the first guy who’d ever talked so long to me,” he smiled.

“Oh! Err…I’m glad to hear that,” I smiled awkwardly while scratching the back of my head, not sure how to react to it exactly.

“Gino, are you done?” Lelouch asked. Gino turned over the packet of snacks to make sure it was empty. Then, he nodded.

“Shall we continue, then?” he asked and pushed himself up. Gino forced in the empty packet into the small pocket beside the backpack and stood up. I swung the backpack on my shoulders before allowing Lelouch to put his arm over for support. Gino held onto my jacket again while licking his fingers. That pack of snacks must have been very tasty.

While walking, Lelouch asked, “By the way, what’s a Knightmare?”

I smiled and replied, “Well, it’s kind of complicating and difficult to explain.”

“Don’t worry. I’m a person with brain and knowledge. I’ll try my best to understand.”

Since he was interested in it, I did not want to disappoint him.

“Alright then!”

 

_TBC_


	3. Gino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this chapter onwards, it will all be in third POV.

It was too soon but the sun had reached its limit. They had arrived at the new town an hour ago and yet they could not find a place to stay for the night. All the buildings were occupied, not with residents, but dead and some rotten corpses, with lots of rats too. The town was called “The Whistle” but what has it got to do with the rats?

Soon, they came to a junction of crossroads.

“Which road?” Lelouch asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never been here before. I only remember my friend told me that this place is like a maze,” Suzaku tried to sound like he was joking.

“Hm…maybe your friend’s right, that Lloyd guy might be right too. I had a bad feeling about this town. It had been too quiet since we first step in here.”

Lelouch was right, thought Suzaku. The town had been horrifyingly peaceful throughout the whole road and sometimes, they could hear footsteps but see nothing in that direction. Even a slight breeze could not be felt.

“You know, this town is worse than the first town we came from.”

“True. Gino! Where are you going?” Lelouch called and both he and Suzaku looked towards Gino who ran quickly towards a shop. They hurriedly followed him.

It was a candy shop, which was why Gino would run towards it. Kids have a very high sensitivity towards anything sweet, don’t they? But, it was different for Suzaku and Lelouch. Though it was a candy shop, they did not think that something sweet is waiting inside there.

Lelouch asked with fear, “Do you want to try the door? Or shall we leave and continue to the next town?”

Suzaku answered, “It’d be a bad idea to even touch the doorknob. Let’s go, Gino.”

Gino was stubborn. He did not listen to them and opened the door. Then, he stood there, not moving an inch. Both Suzaku and Lelouch stared into it as the creaking door opened slowly, in great fear of what they would be looking at.

However, they were surprised. It was empty. There were only 2 racks standing beside the wall, no corpses nor blood or rotten smell either. It was quite clean and no rats were found. It looked safe. Though it was quite disappointing for Gino, but they could at least stay in there for the night.

“I think we’ll stay for tonight,” said Suzaku.

“It isn’t a totally bad idea, but…it doesn’t feel right,” replied Lelouch, still a little worried.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you,” Suzaku said while he let Lelouch sit on the floor back against the behind the door.

Lelouch laughed, “I know you’re a knight, but there’s no need to make such a promise. I can still run if I have to.”

Suzaku blushed, “I…I thought it will make you feel a bit more relax.” He sat beside Lelouch and patted Gino to sleep.

“It did, actually. Night.” Lelouch said and closed his eyes to sleep.

“Night…”

Suzaku stared at Lelouch for a moment before shutting his eyes to sleep.

* * *

 

The midnight sky was clear. The sleeping moon was accompanied with some brightly shining stars. Down the silent road, there were human beings. They were being followed in the dark. They had found a place to spend for the night, but they had yet to know what was going to happen next. _They_ were nearing them and hadn’t they noticed? There was one with them, in that sweet shop without candies.

 

* * *

Gino was stirring around, uncomfortable of the cold air blowing into his face. Then, he felt a drip of droplet on his face. He brought up his hand to wipe it off while opening his eyes slowly to see what, or who, did that. Gino was stunned. He was shivering greatly and tears started to form in his eyes. A man, no, a woman, or maybe…a zombie? It was somebody, with reddish eyes almost popping out from its sockets, mouth opened, and saliva dripping continuously. Its skin and lips were almost torn and tiny worms can be seen eating the flesh out of it. He was breathing unbearable breath. It was a human but…

Gino whined as he was scared and did not dare to move another muscle. That inhuman thing was nearing him, stretching his crooked hand to touch him. In that split second when Gino shut his eyes, Suzaku shoved off that zombie and punched his face till he feel backwards on the ground with half of his body bent. Suzaku quickly carried Gino into his arms.

Suzaku was shocked himself. He whispered, “That isn’t human, not at all.” Suddenly, Lelouch shouted in a whisper, “Suzaku!”

Suzaku turned and saw many more of them were nearing the shop. All of the same kind as that zombie, or cannibal, or whatever it is.

“We must leave!” Suzaku exclaimed.

“How? There’s only one way out!” Suzaku only realized, the only way out was the entrance.

“Get onto my back,” Suzaku told Lelouch. Lelouch climbed onto him and held him tightly around his shoulder. Suzaku covered Gino’s head under his hand. He told Gino to shut his eyes and hid his face in Suzaku’s chest.

“Lelouch, ready?”

He took a deep breath, and replied “Yes.”

Suzaku charged towards the door, breaking the door into pieces with his free arm. He paused for a while and saw the crowd of beings. There were almost hundreds of them and all were desperate for food. They have became insane and out of control.

“Go!” shouted Lelouch into Suzaku’s ear. Suzaku ran in a speed of lightning, banging into those beings in front, and shoved and pushed them away. Lelouch dug out a pack of snacks from the backpack and opened it. Then, he threw it both sides to the crowd. Some of them stopped and snatched the food from one another. They even killed each other for it.

Finally, they were out of the crowd and far away from them. The three of them took a last look at those helpless beings before continuing their journey.

It was certainly a bad idea stopping there, Lelouch though, but luckily, none of them were harmed.

 

_TBC_


	4. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one short note, though it may not be necessary...  
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Code Geass, but this chapter's plot.

The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky. Birds were chirping on the wooden roof. They flew away as a woman of age 50 came out from the double-story wooden house with a broom. She was sweeping the leaves away.

“Good morning, ma’am!” said a young postman.

“Good morning, boy! On the way to work?” asked that woman.

“Yes, ma’am! Mum wants me to pass this to you as appreciation,” he took out an envelope and gave it to her.

“What is this?” she asked curiously.

“Some money of appreciation,” the postman answered honestly.

“Oh my! Take it back! Tell her there’s no need for this.”

“Sorry, ma’am. When Mum had decided, she won’t turn back on her decisions. You know her.”

That woman sighed, “Alright. Send her my gratitude.”

“Yes, ma’am! See ya!” he sat onto his bicycle and was about to leave. “By the way ma’am, there’s somebody lying beside your house. Are they the beggars?”

“There is?” she went to have a look and saw two young men and a boy sleeping behind the rubbish bin.

“Ma’am, do you need me to chase them away for you?” the postman asked.

“No, no. It’s alright. I’ll deal with it.”

“I see. Well, if there’s any problem, do come and search help from us. We’re always ready to help you, ma’am.”

“Thank you, boy. You should get going. Bye!” and they waved goodbye.

The woman left the broom outside and went back into the house. Few minutes later, she came out with buns on a plate. She brought it to them, placed it on the ground and woke them up. Suzaku turned his head up from lying on top of Lelouch’s head. He opened his eyes, taking in the sunlight slowly. He blinked as he saw the woman bending her body down a little to look into his eyes.

“Rise in shine, young man!” she greeted Suzaku. Suzaku who just woke up still had some blurriness in him. He stared at the woman for a while before answering her.

“M-morning…ma’am,” he said.

“Here, some buns for you and your family,” she said kindly. Suzaku looked at the freshly baked buns and licked his lips. He felt his stomach growling.

“Come on, wake them up. All of you must have been very hungry.”

Did as he was told, Suzaku gently woke Gino, who was sleeping on his lap, and shook lightly on Lelouch’s shoulder. Gino rubbed his eyes before opening it, while Lelouch shifted his head a little from lying on Suzaku’s shoulder. Suzaku gave Gino a bun and Gino started to munch it fast. Lelouch, who still did not know what had happened, just took the bun the woman passed it to him and took a bite.

Suzaku took his first bite too, and was astonished. “This is good!” The woman laughed and said, “Of course it’s good. All of you are hungry and would think any food to be delicious, even if it’s only a bun.”

“But…this is really good,” Lelouch said after a few bites. Gino finished his and took another from the plate.

The woman laughed again, “Oh, you three brothers are so cute!”

Suzaku swallowed his bun before answering her, “Sorry, but we’re not brothers. We happen to meet each other during our escape.”

“Oh my! You were caught in the war?” asked the woman. Suzaku nodded.

“You poor, darlings!” she exclaimed. “Eat, eat. Finish the buns,” and they did. While they were helping themselves with bun, the woman just stared at them.

After finishing the third bun, Lelouch looked up at the woman.

“Thank you so much for the food. How can we repay you?”

“No, no. It’s just a small help I’m giving.”

“We insist, ma’am,” said Suzaku.

“No, really, there’s no need to.”

“No, ma’am, really, let us repay you,” Suzaku said and Lelouch nodded.

“Hm…” the woman was thinking, deeply in thought when suddenly Gino picked up the empty plate and pointed it towards the woman. She looked at him and laughed.

“Well, there’s a way for you to repay me.” Both Suzaku and Lelouch were waiting for the answer. The woman continued, “My husband’s a locksmith. You can repay me by helping him. Is that alright?”

“Anything will do, ma’am. As long as we have place to stay and food to eat, and most of all, to repay your kindness,” said Suzaku.

The woman chuckled, “Alright, alright. Follow me. My shop is just behind you. And you, little one, I’ll get you more buns, alright?” She smiled and so did Gino.

When they came out to the entrance, Lelouch and Suzaku was surprised to see many people walking around, in and out from shops and houses. Everything was fine and no war had broken out in that town.

“Finally,” Lelouch said delightfully, “we’re in a peaceful town.” Suzaku smiled.

“Come in,” the woman called to them. They walked into the shop and saw many type of locks hanging on the wall, some were framed in a glass cupboard. There was a counter beside the stairs and some tables and little machinery in the middle of the room. The room looked old but clean.

The woman shouted out to her husband, “Honey! I’ve found somebody who can help us out in the shop.”

A man, older than her but very tough and masculine, came out from behind a door and walked towards them. “Who is it?” he asked

“Young man, please introduce yourself,” said the woman. “I’ll go get some more buns for you,” he told Gino as she took the empty plate from his hands.

The old man, now in front of the counter, put on his glasses and looked at them.

“I’m Suzaku and this is Lelouch,” said Suzaku while Lelouch nodded. “This little boy here is Gino.” Gino kept his stare at the door where the woman had disappeared into.

“Well, hello!” said the old man while he smiled. “I’m glad to hear that someone would actually help this old man here to do his job.”

“We decided to help in return of her kindness for the food,” said Suzaku.

“Ah, I see. So, where do you come from?”

“We came from the town where the war first broke out,” Lelouch replied.

“I see. You must have pass through many difficulties to get here, especially that town before this. I heard there're cannibals all over.”

“Yes, and we almost became their food,” said Suzaku.

The old man sighed, “This war is torturing us. Anyway, I’m John and my wife’s Mariah.”

Mariah walked out from the door and brought some more buns for Gino. She said, “We have a daughter almost of the age as Gino here. Her name’s Ann. She’s upstairs.”

“Are they staying here, dear?” asked John.

“Yes, they are,” replied Mariah.

“Then, let them have the guest room. Give them some clothing to change into. Those escapes had made them all dirty and untidy.”

“Yes, honey,” she left the plate on the counter after Gino took one. Then, she brought them upstairs to the guest room.

“Wait for a while, I’ll bring you some clothing,” then she went out. Gino, who was still munching on the bun, sat silently on the bed and finished it.

The room was quite small with only a Queen-size bed and a small table to fit into it. In the room itself, there’s a small bathroom.

Few minutes later, Mariah came back with a stack of new but worn clothes. “These are for you and Lelouch. I don’t have little boy’s clothes but Ann has some T-shirts and shorts. I think he can fit in.” She left them on the table beside the bed.

“Thank you, ma’am,” replied Suzaku.

“Why not Gino come with me? I can help you wash him up.”

“Sure. Thank you.”

“Come here, Gino. I’ll wash you up,” Gino followed her, in hope for more buns.

When they were almost at the door, Ann came in, “Mama, is that the little boy you’re talking about?”

“Ann! You should knock the door before coming into people’s room. Apologize now.”

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s OK,” said Suzaku.

“Mama, can I play with him?”

“Yes, but after he has taken a bath.”

“Okay!” she smiled and went back to her room. Gino and Mariah followed behind her. Now, only Lelouch and Suzaku were left in that room. Lelouch was picking out some clothes. He took a long-sleeve, turtle neck shirt and a pair of jeans for himself. He then turned to Suzaku and asked him, “Do you want to bathe first?”

Suzaku shook his head and said, “It’s alright, you first.”

“Ok,” Lelouch replied and he took his towel into the bathroom.

After Suzaku picked out his clothing, which were a blue collared T-shirt and a brown trousers, he laid on the bed while waiting for Lelouch. He had never felt so comfortable in his life after living for so long in the military camp. That was his first time lying on a proper bed with clean bed sheets. Even the pillows were soft and spongy.

Suzaku almost fell asleep when he heard Lelouch saying, “Your turn.” He sat up and immediately turned his head to the opposite direction when he saw Lelouch topless.

“S-Sorry!” Suzaku blushed. Lelouch was wearing his shirt when he noticed Suzaku’s apology.

He saw a reddish cheek and laughed, “Come on. We’re both guys. Why are you apologizing?”

“I…” Suzaku was dumbfounded. He did not know what to say and was confused. During his time in the military activities, most of his male comrades were always topless. But, he had never blushed this way before. His hormones must have gone topsy-turvy again.

Lelouch chuckled when Suzaku still did not want to stop his stare from the floor.

“Alright, I’m done. You can turn now,” Lelouch said.

When Suzaku turned, Lelouch was on his way out of the room.

“I’ll go help out first,” Lelouch said as he left.

Suzaku was still sitting on the bed as he stared at Lelouch’s back, disappearing after the door. He almost wanted to say that Lelouch had a beautiful body shape though he was quite slim. What had made Suzaku attracted to him? Since the day they met, he always felt his hormones going wild, now, his mind, body and soul had gone insane too because of Lelouch. All those feelings, as if he was falling in lov-…wait! Did he just think it was love? Towards Lelouch? He smacked himself in his face, before quickly stood up and went to take a bath.

Suzaku went downstairs later after his bath. He saw Lelouch sitting at the counter, writing and calculating. He was in charge of the accounting. Suzaku went to the table where John was making a lock. Suzaku was taught how to make and repair the locks. He was a quick learner and that pleased John a lot. Meanwhile, Gino was learning some words from Ann with a picture book.

“Apple!” said Ann. Jake repeated the word but slower and unfamiliar. Ann would repeat the word again till Gino got it right.

Back at the counter, Mariah put down a tray of tea beside Lelouch. He smiled and thanked her. Then, she went to call Suzaku and John. All of them stopped their work and took a little tea break.

“Your presence here has given us great help,” said Mariah.

“Indeed! I’m also very impressed of your handwork, Suzaku. Are you a former blacksmith?” asked John.

“Well, I’m actually…”

“His dad was a famous blacksmith back in our town. He learned the skills from his dad,” said Lelouch.

Suzaku wondered why Lelouch had to make that up, but he gave in and nodded, “Yeah, but I was often scolded by my dad for burning my own hand.” He laughed.

“Oh my! That sure hurts a lot!” exclaimed Mariah in a worried tone.

“Well, my dad always says ‘no pain, no gain’. I guess it couldn’t be helped. Maybe that’s the reason for me to be able to do it quite well.”

John laughed and patted hard on Suzaku’s shoulder, “That’s right, boy. Your dad’s so right! I really want to learn something from him.”

“Erm…unfortunately, he was killed by bullets.” Suzaku replied.

Lelouch suddenly became still.

John stopped his laughter and quickly apologized.

“Poor thing. This war had really killed lots of people,” said Mariah.

“It’s alright. I’ve already got over with it,” Suzaku smiled to bring back their confidence.

“At least you grew up to be a fine man, right?” said John. Suzaku nodded and Mariah continued John’s sentence, “Your dad’s going to feel proud of you.”

“Thanks,” Suzaku replied when Lelouch suddenly stood up from his place and went to the back where the kitchen lies.

All of them stare at him as he left. Suzaku sensed uneasiness in the air and quickly broke the silence.

“Erm…sorry. I think he had some bad memories of his past,” Suzaku simply made up an excuse.

“Oh! No wonder. We’d just brought up some bad memories of his,” said John.

“Go check on him, Suzaku,” Mariah told him in a worried tone. Suzaku nodded and headed towards the kitchen. He let the door closed gently behind him before going near to Lelouch.

With the big current of water flowing out of the pipe, Suzaku assumed Lelouch was washing his hands. But, as he went nearer, he saw blood flowing into the sink. He called him twice but there was no response. Suzaku’s body touched Lelouch’s and realized his whole body was shaking. Then, he noticed Lelouch was actually using a wire sponge to rub his hands vigorously.

Quickly, he threw away the sponge and grabbed both Lelouch’s hands from behind. He called out again, “Lelouch! Wake up! Stop spacing off!”

Lelouch was still shivering, terribly. He kept mumbling, “It wouldn’t come off…It wouldn’t come off…”

Suzaku was in a shock. Did Lelouch really have such a horrible past?

Suzaku squeezed Lelouch lightly with his arms and leaned closer to his body. He was whispering sweet nothings into his ear, hoping to calm him down.

Though Lelouch had stopped mumbling, he was still shivering slightly. Suzaku frowned.

“Lelouch, everything’s fine. Don’t worry. I’m always here for you,” Suzaku whispered into his ears again. Finally, Lelouch relaxed his muscles. Suzaku let go one of his grip and pulled a chair for Lelouch. Suzaku sat him down, helped him washed away the remaining blood with water before turning the pipe off and wiped dry his hands with a clean cloth.

“Wait here, OK? I’ll go get the first aid kit. Don’t do anything and just sit,” Suzaku told him and left after he received a nod from Lelouch.

Few minutes later, Suzaku was back as he promised and started treating Lelouch’s hands. While Suzaku was bandaging his hands, Lelouch stared at him softly; absorbing all Suzaku’s features and his tenderness. There was a slight flushed climbing up Lelouch's face but he ignored it. When Suzaku was done with the bandages, Lelouch looked at it and complained, “It’s ugly.”

Suzaku received a direct hit and he blushed furiously. But, at least he was back, and that made him smile.

“Thanks, by the way,” Lelouch continued. Suzaku shook his head in reply.

Later, they came out of the kitchen and received two worried faces. Lelouch apologized and they gave him a reassuring smile.

During that night, Mariah told Suzaku that Gino did not want to leave Ann because they had so much fun together. Gino ended up sleeping with Ann that night. Suzaku greeted them goodnight before heading back to his own room.

The lights were already off and Lelouch was lying on the right side of the double-bed. Suzaku took the other side and lay down. He could not stop thinking the reason as to why did Lelouch went out of control just now. He wanted to ask but was afraid that it would happen again. Yet again, if he kept on thinking that way, he would not get a peaceful sleep.

He turned to face Lelouch’s back. He asked, “Are you asleep yet?”

Lelouch replied a few seconds later, “No.” without turning to face towards Suzaku.

Suzaku hesitated again before saying, “May I ask you something?” He knew he was being overly formal, but he was afraid that Lelouch might get angry for being disturbed.

“What?”

“About just now, why’d you suddenly got…out of control?”

Lelouch did not reply. Still, Suzaku asked, “I’m a bit concern about it.”

There was no reply still. As if he got the message, Suzaku stopped asking. Maybe it was a bad idea after all. He tried to sleep when suddenly Lelouch replied.

“It was that incident, when I was ten,” Suzaku opened his eyes and listened carefully. Lelouch continued.

“I was four when dad leaves us, mum and me, for no apparent reason. Mum had to work so hard to make our lives better. After six years, we were fine living alone without anyone bothering us. Mum became rich and successful in her career. Then one day, unexpectedly, dad came. They’re discussing something about mum’s career, most probably her money. Mum knew he wanted her money for his dark business and wouldn’t give him. She chased him out of the house and screamed at him to not come back again.” Lelouch paused for a while and took a breath before continuing.

“After some time, while I was playing hide and seek with mum, they came with dad. Dad wanted not only the money but everything that belonged to mum, including me. Mum was so angry and started throwing vases and glasses towards them.” Lelouch was silent again. Suzaku turned to see if he was crying or shivering but Lelouch was covered with the blanket high to his neck and it was difficult to notice it.

“Mum shouldn’t have done that. She made them mad. Those people with dad are bad guys. They took out guns and started shooting her. They shot almost everything in the house. I was in the cupboard, hiding, closing my ears, shivering, crying, but I…I just can’t walk out and stop them. I…I was…”

Suzaku immediately went over to hug Lelouch tightly. He was right. Lelouch was shivering, and crying too as he felt the blanket wet.

“That’s enough, Lelouch. That’s enough,” Suzaku said and felt a terrible guilt building inside him.

But, Lelouch just couldn’t stop. He continued saying between sobs.

“I was…scared. Only to come out…when they left…and mum was…lying motionless…I tried to wake her, but she didn’t. Her eyes were open…but she…she’s not responding…at all…the blood…her blood…all over me…I have…I have to…wash….wash them…” Lelouch finished, as he started to bring up his hands and rubbing against themselves.

Suzaku grabbed those hands and hugged them close to Lelouch’s chest. Again, Suzaku whispered sweet nothings into his ears and he squeezed him lightly to calm him.

“Shh…I’m here. Don’t worry. Nothing’s hurting you. I’m here. I’ll protect you, I promise. Don’t worry, Lelouch. I’m here.”

Slowly, Lelouch’s tensed muscle relaxed and his breathing was back to normal. After calming down for a while, still lying in Suzaku’s arms, he whispered back, very soft and fragile.

“Thank you…Suzaku.”

* * *

 

Days went by as if the war had already ended or it did not exist at all. Customers came to have their locks repaired or buy some new ones. Mariah made tea and entertained the customers while they were waiting for their locks to be done. Gino and Ann were playing teacher and student most of the time. Lelouch sat at the counter dealing with the money while Suzaku helped John out. Both Lelouch and Suzaku never brought up that matter again, though Suzaku had becoming more and more attached towards Lelouch, as he wanted to protect Lelouch more than ever. Lelouch, however, felt very peaceful and calm, but he had yet to realize the real reason behind it.

It never struck them, this news about war coming its way to that village, not till one day the young postman came and warned them.

Soon after the postman left, Mariah came back into the house with a very worry look.

John asked her, “What happen, dear?”

“We must leave!” Mariah exclaimed hurriedly.

“Calm down, honey. Take a deep breath and tell us what’s going on.”

After taking in some breath, she finally spoke, “It’s coming. The war is coming. It’s a warning from the mayor. He wants us to leave this town by tonight and flee to the next town. This place is not safe anymore.”

Lelouch was startled for a while before pulling himself up, “Our journey never ends.”

Suzaku placed his hand on Lelouch’s shoulder to calm him down and said, “If so, we have to leave now.”

“I’ll get Gino and Ann,” Mariah said.

“Yes, you do that. I’ll pack some important stuffs. Suzaku, give me a hand,” said John.

“Sure. Lelouch, wait here for Mariah, she might need some help,” Suzaku said and Lelouch nodded.

Gino and Ann came down quickly and walked towards Lelouch. Ann asked curiously, “Lelouch, what's wrong? Why’s mama in a rush?”

Lelouch knelt down and told her, “We’re leaving."

“Why?”

“This place is not safe anymore.”

With that, both Ann and Gino exchanged look and said nothing.

Half an hour later, they were all ready. John’s family and Suzaku had backpack with foods and drinks. They were now outside the house. John locked the door before joining them.

Mariah took out an envelope and put in some money for Lelouch.

“Here, take this. You’ll need it during your journey. We have some for ourselves too, so don’t worry.”

Lelouch nodded and replied, “Thank you, ma’am.”

John cut in, “Wait. Aren’t we going together?”

“No, we can’t,” said Suzaku. “Too many people in a group would be difficult to move.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Gino, here, take this,” Ann gave Gino a puppy doll. “I don’t know when we’ll meet again but if you miss me, talk to Lucy. She’ll be your partner, okay?” Gino nodded. Ann couldn’t stop her tears from rolling down. She hugged Gino and told him, “Be careful.”

“I know you’ve gone through all such dangerous attempt,” Mariah sobbed. “But, please protect your lives. You are needed to save the world and bring world peace, ‘kay?” She caressed both Suzaku and Lelouch’s faces. They nodded. Mariah gave them a hug followed by John.

“We have to go now, ma’am. We’ll see you in the next town,” said Suzaku. Mariah nodded and waved them goodbye. The two groups split to different roads. Who would ever know what would happen to them?

* * *

 

They had been running for a long time. The downpour of the rain was making their escape difficult. They were running, after they were spotted by the enemies.

“This way!” Suzaku said as he carried Gino and pulling Lelouch with him. He knew Lelouch could not keep up anymore and they had to hide somewhere safe. Finally, with God’s help, they found one. Quickly, they rushed in and shut the door. Lelouch was panting. Suzaku was looking outside through the windows. Luckily, the enemies missed them. Then, he looked around in that small room. He opened a few cupboards before taking a board out from the cupboard. He called towards Lelouch.

“Get in here,” said Suzaku. Lelouch walked towards him and peeked inside the small empty space.

“It can’t fit all three of us,” replied Lelouch.

“Just get in, quick!” Suzaku exclaimed hurriedly. Lelouch did as was told. Suzaku then passed Gino to him.

“What are you trying to do, Suzaku?” Lelouch asked with disbelieve. He did not want to know Suzaku was going to do that something that he was expecting.

“Don’t worry; I’ll come back as soon as morning comes.”

“No! You’re not leaving us!” Lelouch hissed.

“I’ll be fine. I just need to lead them to another way. I’ll come back to get you. I promise.”

“It won’t work! There’re hundreds of them out there. You can’t deal with them on your own!”

“Lelouch, trust me. I’m a soldier, the Vice General of…” Suzaku tried to smirk but was cut off.

“So what?! Now you’re defenseless!”

Suzaku frowned but he could not deny that statement. “I've got to go…” was all he managed to say.

“Suzaku!!!”

“PAPA!!!” Gino suddenly shouted. Both Lelouch and Suzaku looked at him. Suzaku smiled and pecked Gino’s forehead.

“Don’t worry, Gino. Papa will be fine. I’ll come back soon.”

“Suzaku…don’t lie,” Lelouch pleaded. “Even a kid knows…” Lelouch’s shivering voice was cut out by a tender kiss on his lips. It was short but strong enough to calm Lelouch down for a while.

Suzaku smiled one last time and said, “I love you.”

Then, he shut the cupboard door, took the board with him, and went outside their hideout.

From within the cupboard, Lelouch could hear the shouting of the enemies and the deafening loud gunshots. It was then that Gino broke out into a loud cry. Lelouch pulled him into a tight hug into his chest and hushed him. Rivulets of tears rolled down Lelouch’s cheeks as he listened to the firings outside which lasted a few moments before it ended with loud screams of some injured men.

He hoped, and prayed, that Suzaku was not one of them.

 

_TBC_


	5. Lost

The rain stopped few hours later. The sky was clear and light rays passed through the gap of the cupboard. Gino slowly pushed himself up from Lelouch’s body. The light rays shining on to Lelouch’s face, giving Gino a clear look of him. Lelouch was awake, but his eyes were red and swollen with tears still flowing down from them. It was obvious that he did not sleep at all. Lelouch was staring blindly into nothingness.

Gino stretched out his arm slowly to touch Lelouch’s face while calling out softly.

“Lulu…”

Lelouch turned his gaze to Gino’s innocent looking eyes. Gino’s hand warmed his face a little. He looked at him for a while, gently pulled him into a hug and shut his eyes. Gino’s voice became shaky.

“Shh…” hushed Lelouch. “He’ll be fine,” though he doubted that.

After being in that hugging position for a while, making sure it was clear and safe, they got out of that cupboard. Once Lelouch opened the door, the bright sunlight shone into the room. He took his first step out of the door, followed by Gino. Lelouch looked left and right. He sighed heavily, which made Gino looked at him.

Suzaku was not there.

Lelouch held Gino’s hand and walked towards the direction where they were supposed to head to before.

* * *

It was a long walk and throughout the long journey, there was no one, no food and no water. Lelouch fell a few times as his energy had been wasted during the run, and also during that pathetic cry. In the end, they had to stop often before continuing their journey. Instead of protecting Gino, Gino was the one who took care of Lelouch. Though, it would be a whole different story if Suzaku was there. Suzaku would carry him if he was tired, protect them and take good care of them like before. Each and every time he thought about it, Lelouch would sob and Gino had to hug him to calm down. Gino was like the temporary Suzaku for him.

Soon, it was night. They were in the middle of nowhere. There were neither houses nor trees to stop for the night. Lelouch could not stand it any longer and finally fainted to the ground. Gino knelt down, wanting to wake Lelouch up, but was too exhausted to do so. He, too, fell onto Lelouch and both of them dozed off under the moonlight, in the middle of nowhere.

The sun shone brightly into their faces the next morning. Gino was the first one to be awakened by it. Then, he called Lelouch. Lelouch crack opened his eyes slowly. He tried hard to push himself up. With Gino’s support, he managed to stand and walked slowly towards the town.

It was noon when they finally reached the next town. There were many stalls outside the houses. There were some houses which were made into shops too. Lelouch and Gino walked towards one of the stalls and asked for some leftovers. Most of them shoved them away; some even threw rotten vegetables towards them. Only one or two would give them proper food like buns and some water. During the night, they would sleep at the small alley surrounded with rubbish dumps, cats and rats.

For the next few days, he would do the same, going around pleading for food and water but none of them were friendly enough to help him. After the failure to obtain food, he would go back to that dark alley and rest, and hoped Suzaku would pop out from somewhere and bring him food, or rather, save him from his despair.

While sitting there staring blankly at the sky, Gino would run back from his food hunt and returned with a few fruits.

“Lulu! Food!” Gino shouted happily. Lelouch would pat his head and smile as they started to have their dinner.

Again and again, they split up in search of food. Lelouch would be back with no result and sometimes a few blue-blacks on his body. He would be kicked by the legs and came back limping. As for Gino, he would easily get food. Maybe it was because Gino had the innocent look and people would pity him and gave him some of their food. Lelouch did not ask and Gino did not tell, as long as they have food, then he was glad.

One day, Lelouch fell ill and could not go for his food hunt. He laid there limply and shut his eyes to rest. It was around evening when he realised Gino was a bit late from his food gathering. Lelouch was worried and went out in search for him. He turned to a few alleys and saw there were people running here and there and shouting.

“It’s the thief again!”

“He’s there! I heard an elder caught him red-handed.”

“I’m gonna make him pay!”

Lelouch almost freaked out. He quickly followed the crowd and reached said place immediately. Gino was lying on the ground, protecting his head with his arms and crying in fear. Many people were scolding him, naughty children started to throw pebbles at him. Lelouch quickly squeezed through the crowd, hugged Gino and knelt over him to protect him.

Gino saw Lelouch shielding him from above and cried out, “Lulu!”

Lelouch hushed him while smiling, “Shh…you’ll be fine.”

Then, the elder shouted, “So, it was the beggars after all!” Some other people shouted too.

“Beggars are never good people!”

“They actually teach children to steal!”

“Punish them!”

“Yeah! Punish them!”

Then, everyone started to throw pebbles, rotten vegetables, leftovers and even their pee was poured over them. When the case became worst, some even brought sticks and hit him, punched him and kicked him. But no matter what they do, Lelouch just would not stop protecting Gino. He thought if Suzaku was here, he would do the same too, protecting his loved ones.

Lelouch had started to bleed. Blood was even dripping down from his lips. Gino looked at him with his wet eyes. He cried out his name louder and held Lelouch’s clothes tightly. Lelouch still smiled to him and told him almost breathlessly, “You’ll be fine.”

Among those shouts, a female voice suddenly screamed through.

“STOP!” Everyone stopped immediately and turned towards the scream. They started to mumble.

“It’s Euphemia. It’s the mayor’s daughter.”

Lelouch was glad the hitting had stopped, and he fell immediately beside Gino. Gino shouted and everyone turned their gaze back to the beggars.

“Is he dead?”

“I don’t know.”

“He’s bleeding a lot.”

“Well, he deserves it!”

“Who deserves what?!” shouted Euphemia as the pink haired fair lady walked through the crowd. She saw Lelouch lying motionless on the ground and Gino shaking Lelouch while crying. She turned back to the crowd and shouted furiously.

“Who did this?!” Nobody answered. “I said, WHO DID THIS?!”

Then, almost half of the crowd put up their hands. Euphemia could not believe her eyes.

Then, someone shouted, “He stole our food!”

“The beggar is trying to teach children to steal.”

“It was his idea of all this stealing!”

“Prove it!” Euphemia fumed up. Nobody dare to say a word.

Then, the elder said, “Is there a need to prove? He takes without permission! That’s stealing!”

“Oh, really?” Everyone looked at her. No one had dared to oppose the elder before. “Then, if your grandchildren get hungry and take food from the kitchen without your permission, you call that stealing?” asked Euphemia.

“This case has its different story!”

“What’s so different? A child who is desperately in need of food would take food without permission. For example, this child here is really desperate. But you people, you **selfish** people, did not even want to help them. If you think I would call this a stealing, then you’re so wrong!”

All the villagers there mumbled and looked at each other. The elder was fuming in anger.

“I’ve been observing for a long time, since the day this man and the child first step into this selfish town. This man here was searching for food not only for himself, but for the child! Some kind housewives gave him some leftovers and he gratefully thanked them and even bowed. Then, everyday, I would give this little boy here a pack of fruits. He was so happy that he thanked me and shouted ‘Lulu! Food!’ all the way back to that rubbish dump. And for your information…” she paused. Everyone looked at her.

She continued, “…All of you here, **almost** all of you here, standing in front of me, are the same as him, a war victim!”

By then, most of the crowd had put away their weapons and few of them had left.

“If it hadn’t been dad, if it hadn’t been some rich man’s friends of yours, would you be alive here with a peaceful life, while the others are still suffering in the war outside there?” she stopped a while before continuing. “No! You wouldn’t! You would end up like him, beaten up so badly just for the sake of surviving and protecting a child. None of you are like him at all! He’s tough, brave and protective, and yet all of you are selfish, thick-headed, unkind and worse, irresponsible!”

She looked at a boy who hid behind his mother.

“Little boy, come here,” she said gently with a smile. That boy was reluctant at first, but did so after being persuaded by his mother.

Euphemia bent down a little and smiled when she asked him, “You’re a good boy and a good boy won’t lie. I know you’re the one who taught that crying boy there how to steal. But, tell me, you didn’t learn this on your own right?” The boy shook his head. “Clever boy, so who taught you?” The boy turned back and pointed at a young man directly behind his mother. His mother was shocked. Her husband actually taught her son such thing! Her husband looked at his wife and apologized. She did not forgive him, but instead forced him to apologize to Lelouch. He reluctantly walked towards Lelouch, bowed a little and said “Sorry!” Then, he turned to see his wife in embarrassment. She, too, apologized and went back with her son and her husband.

Soon, the crowd dispersed and went away after apologizing. There left only Euphemia, Lelouch and Gino. Gino, still sobbing, was hugging Lelouch and kept telling him, “Go home… Go home…” But, Lelouch only lied there, motionless. Euphemia felt a stab in her heart. She regretted not taking him in from the first day.

She patted Gino’s head and told him, “Let’s bring him to the doctor, OK?” Gino stared at her for a moment before nodding and agreed. He stood up while Euphemia held Lelouch’s arm over her shoulders and put her other free arm around Lelouch’s waist for support. Gino walked beside them while holding Lelouch’s hand. Lelouch thanked Euphemia silently and smiled with great effort towards Gino.

* * *

“So, how is he?” asked Euphemia.

“Don’t worry, Euphemia. He’s fine. I treated his injuries and luckily none of them need to go through intensive surgeries,” replied a blue haired lady, who was the doctor. “Oh! By the way, I washed him up already, so no need to worry about the smell too.”

“I’m not worried about that, Cecile. Anyway, thanks for the clothes too.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Cecile, how long is he going to stay here?”

“Three days will do. I just need to make sure his fever had gone down.”

Euphemia sighed, “I really shouldn’t have cared about Dad and just took them in.”

“The mayor didn’t want you to be in trouble. So, it isn’t wrong to do so.”

“But he suffered! You should have seen the tragedy just now!”

“There’s no need for me to see it. You’ve told me already.”

“I know,” Euphemia sighed. She was silent for a while before continuing, “Cecile, mind if I stay here with him and the boy?”

Cecile finally looked up from her documents with slanted eyes, “I don’t mind but don’t you need to ask the mayor first?”

“He won’t let me if I ask.”

“He’s still your father. You must ask permission from him first,” She passed Euphemia the telephone. “Call him. Tell him you wanted to accompany the patient. I know your dad has a soft heart for you and he’ll agree to anything.”

Euphemia looked at the phone, but she did not want to call. Cecile had to push it very near in front of her to make her do it. Finally, she did.

“Dad… I know. I’m sorry for just running away like that. I promise I won’t do that again. Yes, he’s fine. But, can I stay the night to accompany him? He’s so weak and there’s a little boy with him. I can’t just see them like that. Dad, please… Only three days. I’ll come home the next morning. Yes, Dad. Thank you! I love you, Dad!” she hung up the phone and smiled towards Cecile who was writing a report.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

“Cecile, you’re so smart! You know my dad so well!”

“He’s my regular patient anyway,” Euphemia laughed.

Cecile continued, “So, what are you waiting for?”

“Oh, right!” Euphemia jumped up from her seat and went to the next room. Cecile shook her head as she looked at Euphemia running towards the door.

The patient’s room was not too small but quite comfortable. There was a bed, a chair beside it and a small cupboard on the other side. Euphemia was surprised that Gino was on the bed with Lelouch. Gino was sleeping but Lelouch was wide awake. Euphemia walked towards them and sat on the chair. Lelouch saw her coming in and tried to sit up but Euphemia stopped him.

“No, no. It’s alright,” she said softly. She looked at Gino sleeping beside Lelouch while hugging Ann’s doll, Lucy. She smiled, “He’s cute.”

Lelouch only smiled. She continued, “So, how do you feel? Better?”

Lelouch nodded, “Yes, and thanks so much for helping us.”

“It’s nothing. I only regretted not taking you in on the first day I saw the both of you. My dad just wouldn’t let me.” Lelouch was silently listening.

“By the way, may I know your name? It wouldn’t be Lulu, right? Sorry to say this, but Lulu sounds more like a girl.”

Lelouch chuckled, “Lulu is Gino’s calling. He just learnt how to talk so it isn’t quite precisely pronounced. My name’s Lelouch.”

“Oh, I see! That’s what we’d expect from a child. I’m Euphemia, the daughter of the mayor. I’m glad to meet you.” They shook hands.

“Lelouch, do you mind telling me the days which you’ve passed during your journey here?” Lelouch nodded and started telling her the whole story of his journey.

After some time, the story finally ended. Euphemia put on a sad smile and said, “I’m sorry to hear that. But, if he’s still alive, he’d be in this town. Don’t worry, Lelouch. I’ll search for him for you.”

Lelouch smiled, “Thank you.”

“Oh! And also…” A knock came from the door just then. Cecile popped her head into the room.

“Euphemia, it’s too late already. The patient needs some rest.”

“I know, I know. Just a few more minutes,” Cecile nodded and waited for her outside. Then, she returned back to Lelouch.

“And I was about to say, I’ll find you a place to stay and a job too. So, don’t worry about starving. And, at least, I would feel less guilty for not taking you into my house.”

Cecile knocked the door, giving Euphemia a signal. Lelouch thanked her before they told each other “goodnight” and Euphemia went out of the room.

Lelouch shut his eyes to sleep, but all he saw in that dark surrounding, was Suzaku. Tears started to roll down again.

* * *

Few days later, Lelouch and Gino were brought to a wooden little shop house. It was a coffee shop named ‘Ashford’s Café’.

Euphemia knocked on the door while shouting, “Milly! Can you open to door? I’ve brought them here to help you!”

From behind the door, noises of tumbles, crashes and scolding could be heard clearly. Soon, that noise had stopped and the door was opened. A lady with elegant yellow hair stood straight at the doorstep. She put out her arms and hugged Euphemia.

“Oh! Euphemia! It’s nice to see you here!”

“Yes, Milly. It’s nice to see you, too.”

“So, what brought you here?”

“Have you forgotten, Milly?”

“Hm? Forgotten what?”

Euphemia sighed, “I shall introduce you. Milly, this is Lelouch and Gino. I promised them to find a place for them and a job too. You agreed yesterday to accept them.”

“Ah! Yes! I remember. So, what is he capable of?”

“Anything,” said Lelouch.

Milly looked at him, “Anything?”

“Yes.”

“Very well, then. What about that little one?”

“Milly, you don’t expect him to work. He’s too young,” Euphemia butted in.

“I know. I’m just joking. Erm… would you hold on for a while,” She turned back and shouted, “Shirley! Prepare a room for them!”

Then, a crash of plates was heard.

“And hands off those things, would you?!” Milly then turned back to them. “Sorry, that girl “I’ve employed wouldn’t be of much help to me. I hope you can do better than her.”

“I’ll do my best,” Lelouch replied firmly.

“I need to go now, Milly. You’d better take good care of them, or I won’t forgive you if they’re hurt.”

“Yes, my little princess. See you!” Milly waved goodbye, followed by Lelouch and Gino, when she left.

“Shirley! Bring them to their room!” Milly walked to the back of the kitchen. Another girl with orange hair walked down from the stairs.

Shirley greeted them and led them up the stairs. They were asked to leave their things there and quickly come down.

The room was small and there were only a small little cupboard and a single mattress. Before Lelouch went down, he warned Gino, “Don’t come down too often, alright? During lunch or dinner time, I’ll come up to get you. Is that clear?”

Gino nodded, and said something that gave Lelouch a shock. “Lulu trouble, Gino come.” Lelouch smiled, though, and patted his head before heading downstairs and straight to the kitchen.

Milly saw him and quickly called him, “Lelouch, I need you to peel the onions and garlic. Make it fast.” She then passed him a basket of onions and garlic, a knife, and went out of the kitchen. Lelouch sat on the floor and started peeling. Shirley was washing the cups in a rush. Her hands slipped and the cup fell. Lelouch quickly caught it before it landed and broke into pieces. She thanked him and continued washing.

Milly then came in and said, “Shirley, three coffees. Faster will you?” Then, she went out again.

“Yes, ma’am,” Shirley replied and stopped washing. Then, she started to make coffees. Lelouch continued peeling onions and garlic.

Few hours later, the café was filled with customers. Lelouch had finished the peelings by then, and was asked to wash the dishes instead. Shirley was very busy cooking, making drinks and cutting vegetables and meat. She even cooked two dishes at a time, which amazed Lelouch. Once in a while, Milly would come in and push Shirley to work faster, which made things worse sometimes.

It was soon noon and Milly closed the shop for a short rest. She sat at the counter and started counting money that she had earned in the morning. Shirley brought a pail of dishes to wash in the kitchen with Lelouch’s help. Milly came into the kitchen and started taking out vegetables and a fish. She switched on the stove and started cooking. The aroma of Milly’s cooking was so much different from Shirley’s. The aroma filled the whole kitchen and Lelouch was very surprised that Milly could be such a good chef. He wondered why not she opened a restaurant instead of a little café.

After she finished cooking, she brought them out. Shirley sighed. Noticing Lelouch’s wondering stare, Shirley replied, “I want to learn her techniques in cooking but I never did it perfectly. Both our skills have so much difference.”

“You can do better if you practise often,” said Lelouch.

“I know, but when I was asked to hurry, I’ll get confuse and put in the wrong ingredients,” she sighed.

“Maybe I can help you.”

“Really?” Shirley’s eyes beamed.

Lelouch nodded, “I just need to know the recipes.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll give it to you later. Thank you very much!” she exclaimed.

“You’re welcome,” Lelouch replied with a smile.

After finishing with the dishes, Shirley stopped and turned to the stove.

“Erm…Lelouch, right?”

“Yes?”

“Come. I’ll tell you the recipe of my famous home cook food,” Shirley said happily.

Lelouch went beside her and stared as she took out two eggs and two bowls of cooked rice from the rice pot. She switched on the stove and heated the pan. Then, she put in some oil and broke the eggs into it. When the eggs were cooked, she cut them into pieces and poured in the rice. She mixed them up, added in some salt and pepper, and then switched off the stove. She put them back into the bowls and gave one of them to Lelouch. He took a spoon and scooped up a spoonful of it and put it into his mouth.

“How is it?” Shirley asked, eagerly.

“It’s tasty,” Lelouch said with a smile. It was only a simple dish with rice and eggs, but it could turn out to be this delicious!

“Thank you! I name it Shirley’s Fried Rice,” she chuckled.

“Nice. I’ll bring it up to him,” with that he went out of the kitchen. Milly just stared at him as he rushed upstairs.

Once he reached the room, Gino looked up happily and shouted, “Lulu! Lulu back!” Lelouch smiled and sat in front of him.

“Shirley made this. It’s very nice. Have a try,” Lelouch said. Gino opened his mouth and Lelouch fed him. “Nice?”

Gino nodded and smiled widely, “Some more!”

Lelouch laughed and fed him. Then, it came to his mind, “Hey, why don’t we ask Suzaku to cook for us?” He paused. He had just said something sensitive – Suzaku. Suzaku was the only one he could think of no matter where he was. If he knew where he was…

“Lulu,” Gino cut in with a worried tone.

Lelouch snapped out from his stare and quickly put up a smile, “Hey, what’s that face for? I’m just saying that when we meet him, we can tell him about this recipe. Then, he can…”

‘Damn…’ Lelouch cursed silently. He had started to cry again. Wiping away his tears, he said, “Eat quickly. I still need to work.”

Gino took the bowl from Lelouch. He scooped up some rice and held it out in front of Lelouch. Lelouch stared. Gino put up a smile and said, “Ah!” Lelouch did not know how to react but just followed Gino’s instruction. Gino put the food into his mouth and smiled. Lelouch smiled back. Now, only Gino could make him smile and relax.

At night, Gino and Lelouch slept together on the mattress. Gino tossed and turned, and went near to Lelouch. Lelouch felt weird as Gino would not stop moving around. He sat up a little with his right elbow on the mattress supporting his body. He looked at Gino and asked, “Do you want to listen to a bedtime story?”

Gino looked at him and nodded with a smile. Lelouch then started his story.

“Once upon a time, there’s a princess named Rapunzel.”

“Rapunzel?” Gino asked.

“Yes. She’s a very pretty princess with very, very long golden hair. She lives in a very tall tower with no doors but only a window.”

“Why?”

“A very wicked witch kept her there. She wanted Rapunzel to help her work and will only visit her during the evenings to bring her food. The witch would ask Rapunzel to put down her long golden hair and she’ll use it to climb up the tower.”

“So bad!” Gino frowned. Lelouch laughed at his cute reaction as he continued.

“Then, one day, a prince came and saw the tower. He’s wondering why's there a tower in the middle of the forest is. Then he went around the tower but there’s no door. So, he thought there’s no one living in it. Suddenly, he heard a voice; a beautiful voice came from above. He looked up and saw Rapunzel. He shouted towards her. Rapunzel happily invited him into the tower. She put down her long golden hair for the prince to climb. The prince was shocked at her beautiful hair. But, he still used it to climb up the tower, towards the window.”

Lelouch paused. He looked at Gino who was still looking at him. He asked, “Don’t feel like sleeping yet?” Gino shook his head. Lelouch smiled and continued, “They were happily chatting when suddenly Rapunzel asked the prince to leave quickly. The prince didn’t want to, but Rapunzel explained that the witch will kill him if she sees him there. So, the prince reluctantly leaves the tower, but promised to save her one day. The next day came and Rapunzel was looking out the window, waiting for her prince charming. She waited and waited. Finally, he came. She was very happy and quickly put down her hair for the prince. The prince had come to save her. Rapunzel cut off her hair and tied it on a nail on the wall. Then, both Rapunzel and the prince ran away from the tower and they lived happily ever after.”

“Witch?” Gino asked.

“Well, the witch climbed up the tower that evening and saw that Rapunzel was gone. She was angry but she could do nothing about it. The end!”

“Gino like happy endings!”

“I like happy endings too. Can you sleep now?” asked Lelouch. Gino nodded. Lelouch then lied back down beside Gino. Lelouch had already shut his eyes when he heard Gino mumbled, “Gino prince. Gino save Rapunzel.” Lelouch smiled and put his arm over Gino to hug him and finally, they fell asleep.

That night, Lelouch dreamed of Suzaku being his prince and one day, he would come and bring him and Gino to a castle and live happily there. Unknowingly, a tear rolled down his face.

* * *

Day by day, almost three weeks he had been there. He washed the dishes, peeled the onions, cut the vegetables and even cooked them. He had learnt one or two techniques from Shirley, and sometimes, from Milly herself. Now and then, Milly would call Gino down to accompany her and she would teach him how to calculate the money when everyone was gone. She would always praise Gino in front of the customers and they often gave more tips for the cute little boy.

At first, Lelouch was happy that Gino was having so much fun and not feeling lonely at all. But, gradually, he became worried that someone might harm Gino when he was out of sight. Once in a while, he would look out from the kitchen to make sure Gino was fine. Shirley often laughed at him and told him to calm down as Milly would look out for him. Lelouch had to give in and continue to work.

One day, Lelouch’s worries came true. Gino accidentally banged into a big shot while he was bringing a cup of coffee. The coffee had fell off his hands and fell to the floor, which spilled onto the big shot’s trousers and shoes. During that time, Milly was busy serving others.

Lelouch had heard the crash and quickly rushed out from the kitchen. The man was standing with an angry face and glared at Gino. Gino just stood there and did not move. He was too scared to do anything. Lelouch ran towards him and pulled him behind. He apologized to the customer immediately.

“I’m very sorry, sir. He didn’t mean to knock into you.”

“Are you outta ‘yer mind? How can you let a boy do such things? What happen if someone gets hurt?!” the big shot screamed and everyone turned. Milly quickly walked towards them.

“He’s helping me, sir. Is there a problem?” said Milly.

“Of course there is! Can't you see? My trousers are dirty and so are my shoes. Who’s gonna pay for it?”

Lelouch cut in, “I’ll clean it for you, sir.”

The big shot laughed, “Clean it? How? Lick it off my shoes?”

Lelouch’s hand formed a fist and Gino quickly hold it with his hands. Lelouch then calmed down a little.

Milly pushed Lelouch back and said, “Leave this to me.”

The big shot laughed again, “What can you do, lady? You wanna help him lick it off?” he laughed louder and his friends joined in. Milly took a cup of coffee from one of his friend’s hand and splashed it onto the big shot’s face. Everyone gasped.

“Oops! It slips off my hands. Do you want me to lick it off your face?” Milly smirked.

The big shot fumed up, “You’re going to close your shop, lady! You’ll regret not taking my business!”

“Oh! No worries! I never want them anyway. So, please leave,” Milly frowned and glared him back.

The big shots stood up and left. Some of the customers left too, but some stayed. When Milly went back to take their orders, they even cheered for her. Shirley never knew she had so many fans.

Lelouch squatted down and looked at Gino. He asked in a worried tone, “Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Gino shook his head and said, “Gino’s fine.”

Lelouch looked at him from up to down. He stopped his stare at Gino’s hand which had a small cut from the broken piece. Gino quickly pulled back his hand and hid it. Lelouch was shocked at his behaviour but still, he asked gently, “Gino, let me see your hand.”

Gino shook his head.

“Let me see your hand,” Lelouch repeated.

Gino shook his head vigorously.

“Gino, your hand is injured! Let me see it!”

“No! Gino’s fine! Not injured!” Gino shouted as he quickly ran upstairs and slammed the door hard.

“Gino!” Lelouch stood up as he called out. He noticed everyone’s stare and quickly apologized before running up to his room.

He slowly opened the door and saw Gino hiding under the blanket. He shut the door silently and walked towards the mattress. He sat beside him.

“Gino,” he called softly, but Gino did not reply. Lelouch heaved out a sigh. “I’m sorry, Gino. I never meant to be harsh on you. I’m just worried. I need to treat it before it becomes worse.”

Gino turned up his head a little. Lelouch smiled and said, “Can I see your hand?”

At first, Gino was reluctant to give in, but he still let Lelouch see his hand when Lelouch said “Please?”

Lelouch looked at it for a while and told Gino to wait there when he went to get some lotion and a plaster for him. He was about to open the door when Milly came in.

“Looking for this?” Milly said as she walked in with a bottle of iodine solution, a cotton bud and a plaster.

“Thanks, Milly,” Lelouch said as he took them and started applying some iodine solution on the cut. Milly sat beside them.

“Did it hurt?” asked Lelouch. Gino shook his head. Then, he placed the plaster on the cut. Gino looked at the plaster with the cartoon characters on it and smiled.

“Is it cute?” asked Milly.

“Mm!” Gino smiled while nodding.

Lelouch turned to talk to Milly, “I’m sorry that we’ve caused such trouble to you.”

“It isn’t your fault, Lelouch, and neither is Gino’s. They just don’t deserve to be served by a cute little kid, right?” she said while tickling Gino in the stomach. He laughed and fell backwards on the mattress.

“But, your shop…”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to close it soon, anyway.”

Lelouch was shocked, “Why?”

Milly smiled, “Don’t you think this shop is too small for me?” Lelouch was not sure what was Milly trying to imply. Then, she continued, “I’ve had enough money now. I’m going to fly to other countries and open a restaurant there. During my free time, I’ll teach people some cooking skills. Then, I’ll help all the war victims by making them free food and maybe, just maybe, I’ll adopt some children and take care of them, just like you.”

Lelouch then smiled. During their conversation, Gino crawled onto his lap and slept on it while hugging the doll, Lucy.

Milly, still smiling, looked at Gino as she said, “Anyway, I’m glad that you came. You helped me out in the shop, and also changed my way of thinking about the world.”

Lelouch replied, “That, I’ve to thank you first, for accepting me into your world.”

Milly laughed, “Yes, that’s right.” She stood up and held out her right arm. “From now on, let’s work hard together to achieve our goals, alright?”

Lelouch nodded and shook her hand. Milly stood up straight and stretched her body. “I’ll go and help Shirley. You stay here and babysit him.” Then, she went out and shut the door silently.

Lelouch looked at Gino’s sleeping face. He just could not forget the days where his mother had done the same thing towards him. How much he wished to reverse the time and stopped them at that very moment forever.

* * *

“Lelouch! Congrats!” shouted Shirley.

“Your dream had finally come true!” said Milly.

“I’ve already invited him to my house later this afternoon. So, you’d better get changing and come with me now!” said Euphemia excitedly.

All these shouting took place a week later in Lelouch’s room. Lelouch, who had been forced to wake up, was still in his blur mode. With all the shouts, he felt like his head was going to burst soon.

“Who are you talking about?” Lelouch asked.

“Your friend, Vice General Kururugi! I found him, and he said he would come and pick you up later. He sounded very excited too when I told him that you’re here, still alive!”

“K-Kuru-rugi? Suzaku?” Lelouch’s eyes widened.

“Oh! Lelouch! Are you awake yet?” asked Milly while chuckling.

“Erm…maybe not. This must be a dream,” Shirley pinched his arm hard. “Ow! Shirley!”

“Nope! You’re not dreaming,” Shirley grinned.

Lelouch then felt a weight behind him as Gino jumped up to Lelouch’s back and hugged him at the neck. He shouted, “Papa coming!”

Lelouch did not know how to react. He was excited, and yet anxious, but then he was so happy, and yet sad too. All those feelings had confused him.

Then, he asked, “When should we leave?” They smiled and grinned.

Euphemia told him, “He’ll be coming in the afternoon, Lelouch. So, you’ll better be prepared right now.”

“Be prepared? How?” Lelouch asked and they laughed.

“We’ll help you,” Milly said as she made the biggest grin.

* * *

They were now in the carriage on the way to the mayor’s mansion. It had not reached afternoon yet but with Milly pushing and Shirley forcing him, him and Gino left reluctantly.

Euphemia led them in when they had arrived. While doing so, she shouted into the luxurious living room, “Dad! I’m home!” Lelouch and Gino were busy taking in the view of the antique furniture, portraits of some famous people and the beautiful cupid ceiling. Euphemia brought them to a room beside the living room and told them to wait for her while she went to call her dad.

Lelouch and Gino sat alone on a big sofa. Gino could not stop looking at the surrounding. He looked from the red curtains to the marble tiles. Lelouch on the other hand, were fidgeting nervously. He was excited to see Suzaku, but he was afraid of facing him. He was worried that Euphemia might mistake somebody as the Suzaku he always talked about. But, Euphemia said Vice General Kururugi. That is Suzaku for sure, but still, he was afraid to face the truth. He was afraid that he might not know what reaction to make.

In the mayor’s office, Euphemia’s father was talking on the phone, the reason why he did not reply Euphemia’s call. She sat on the chair opposite him and waited for him to finish the call.

Soon, he put down the phone. He turned to Euphemia and smiled, “Yes, Euphy. What is it?”

“I’ve brought them here already. They’re in the chatting room beside the living room,” said Euphemia.

“Them?” the mayor asked.

“Dad, I’ve told you yesterday. It’s Lelouch and Gino. Didn’t you listen?”

“Ah! Yes! Them! Sorry, maybe I’m too busy with my work and had forgotten about it. I’ll go see them in a while. Let me finish some documents first.”

“Yes, dad. I’ll be there waiting,”

As Euphemia walked out, her father’s smile faded away. “Lelouch…” he whispered to himself.

Few minutes later, Euphemia was back in the room chatting with Lelouch, in a way to make him relax. Gino was jumping all around and suddenly walked up to Euphemia. He asked for the toilet. Euphemia laughed and brought him there.

Meanwhile, Lelouch was left alone in the room. He was looking at the photos on the shelf where he suddenly paused in front of a familiar face. That face looked like somebody he had seen before many years ago. A shudder was felt down Lelouch’s spine as he finally remembered who it was. He quickly ran to the door in hope of getting out of the house immediately. But, he was late by a few seconds. Lelouch stepped back slowly when a man came walking in and shut the door behind him. He looked into Lelouch’s terrified face and greeted him.

“Hello, Lelouch. Long time no see.”

Lelouch frowned and muttered, “Murderer!”

“So, you were there?” the man smirked.

“I saw everything!”

The mayor smiled and said, “Lelouch, have you no respect for me? I’m still your father. You still have my blood in you.”

“We’re not connected anymore! You killed mother; you took her money; you took her house, her treasure, and…and you took her away from me!” Lelouch shouted as he took his final step backwards. His back was against the wall.

The man also stopped two feet away from Lelouch.

“Lelouch, you and I can still be father and son. See this luxurious mansion? I build it. You can stay here as long as you want. I’ll give you everything you want in this world. Anything, as long as you voice it out.”

“I want her!” Lelouch said furiously, staring straight into those evil eyes.

“Her?” the man laughed. “She’s dead, boy. I have no witch power to do…” He took one step nearer.

“Then don’t say you can give me EVERYTHING!” Lelouch shouted. “You LIAR!”

The man frowned, “Liar? Me? Then what about you, COWARD?!”

Lelouch was having a tough time breathing. His heart was beating rapidly. He stared at the man without even blinking his eyes. He was full of fire and was about to explode.

The mayor continued, “You hid somewhere when I was finding you. You hid somewhere when you knew your mother is going to be killed. You ran away after that, leaving your mother’s body unburied. You let it rot and didn’t care.”

“No…It…it wasn’t…”Lelouch muttered. His fear of the past had come playing in his mind again.

“You walked along the street with those bloody stains all over you. You didn’t even bother to clean them.”

“No! They just wouldn’t come off!” Lelouch shouted. His head was spinning and more flashbacks of his mother came surrounding him.

“You’re even worse than a coward! You never even prayed for your mother to rest in peace. You never even tried to do anything about everything!”

“Stop! Stop! Stop it!” Lelouch simply shoved his hands onto a vase and crashed it onto the man’s head. When he did that, he got a deep stab in his abdomen. The mayor frowned as a drop of blood fell from his forehead.

Lelouch looked down after he felt a slight pain. The knife is deep inside him, blood flowing out, making his shirt and jacket bloody red. The man then pulled out the knife. Lelouch gasped and fell to the ground. He was having even more difficulties in breathing. His blood flowed out more onto the carpeted floor.

He thought he was going to die.

Euphemia, who happened to stop by and saw the incident through the gap at the door, quickly ran straight towards the main door. Rivulets of tears rolled down and she was not very sure of what she was doing. She quickly opened the door and accidentally bumped into a man in white suit.

“My lady, are you alright?” Euphemia looked behind him. There were two body guards with him. Then, she turned up to see the young man.

He repeated, “My lady is everything…”

“Save him!” Euphemia blurted out. “Save him! Quick! That room!” She screamed while pointed towards the room she had just came from.

The young man and both his bodyguards quickly rushed towards the room. Euphemia sat on the carpet. She closed her eyes with both her hands and continued crying.

Seeing Lelouch motionless on the ground, the mayor shouted, “You worthless piece of crap! If you think I’m going to accept you again, you’re so dead! Get it?! You’re so DEAD!”

The man held up his knife, preparing to stab Lelouch till his last breath was gone. When his hand almost reached Lelouch’s heart, the door flew opened with a big bang. The young man ran in and punched the mayor in the face. His bodyguards grabbed hold of the mayor and forced him down.

Lelouch was seeing double visions. He could not see what was happening and who that man was. He could only hear his name being called out by this mysterious man. He tried very hard to reply but all he could say was, “Su…za…ku…”

 

_TBC_


	6. Trust

_Lelouch woke up finding himself in a very dark place. He stood up and looked everywhere, but he could see absolutely nothing. Still, he started to walk, not knowing where his legs were leading him._

_After somewhat of a long walk, he paused. His name was being called. He looked everywhere, and finally stopped his stare on a light not far away from him. Cautiously, he walked towards it and soon found out that the light was actually someone._

_There was a lady with long, curly, black hair in indigo dress, sitting on a white bench. She was calling him while waving her hands and invited him to sit beside her. Lelouch smiled immediately and went to her side. He looked at her and cheerfully said, “Hi, mum!”_

_She smiled gracefully and patted his head. She asked him, “Is there something you want to tell me?”_

_Lelouch nodded in reply, “I’ve a very long and interesting story for you.”_

_“Go ahead,” his mother replied._

_The both of them chatted for quite some time. Each and every time, when he told his mother about a young man he met, he would smile like an angel. His mother, though noticed it very clearly, only smiled and listened. When he finally finished his story, he let out a sigh. His mother looked at him dearly and asked, “What’s wrong, dear?”_

_Throwing away his frown, he answered, “It’s nothing, mum. I’m just starting to miss those days. But, I think I can’t turn back now.”_

_His mother chuckled and pinched softly at his cheek, “You’re so silly.”_

_Lelouch chuckled too, “I know.”_

_His mother then stood up, pulling Lelouch with her as she walked._

_“Where are we going, mum?” Lelouch asked but his mother did not reply. Soon, they came to an apple tree._

_Lelouch asked, “Mum, what’s an apple tree doing here?”_

_“Look,” she told him. Lelouch followed finger pointing towards the tree. From there, he did not see apples, instead, he saw humans, humans from his memories, in fact. He saw Euphemia sleeping on the sofa and Gino telling the story of 'Rapunzel' to him, to which Lelouch chuckled. Then, his gaze fell on the most precious person in his life. That person was holding his hand while he laid his head on the side of his bed. Lelouch had stopped chuckling then and a tear came rolling down unknowingly. His mother gently wiped them off his face._

_Lelouch looked back at his mother upon that touch, and told her, “That’s him. He’s the one I’m talking about.”_

_His mother smiled, “I can’t see. It’s not my memory.”_

_“Oh…” was all Lelouch could say as he continued watching them._

_“Go back,” his mother said suddenly. Lelouch was shocked and quickly turned to face her._

_“But…I can’t, mum. I don’t know how, and I don’t want to leave you alone.”_

_“Don’t worry about me, Lelouch. My time was up but not yours. Go back there. I’ll be waiting here when the time comes.”_

_As his mother was talking, she waved her hand in a circle at the tree. The tree became a portal with bright light shining out from it. Lelouch, however, was reluctant to leave._

_“Lelouch, you still have a bright future ahead waiting for you. Now, go on, and don’t forget to send my greetings to them, especially that precious lover of yours.”_

_Lelouch blushed, “Mum! He’s not…”_

_“Tell him that if he didn’t take good care of you, I’ll come and haunt him in his dream. Tell him it’s a warning from me. Now, go!”_

_She pushed Lelouch into the portal before he could protest again. He fell into it while shouting back, “ Love you, mum!”_

_The portal was closed before his mother could reply, “Love you too, Lelouch dear.”_

* * *

As if he had gone on a long journey, he was finally able to feel the sense of being alive again. He opened his eyes slowly, taking in the bright light bit by bit. When his eyes were fully opened, a big figure blocked his sight.

“Lulu! Lulu wake! Lulu wake!” Gino shouted happily as he bounced lightly on the bed and fell into Lelouch’s arms, and nonstop of snuggling into him. Euphemia and Suzaku both jumped up at the same time.

“I’ll…I’ll go get Cecile,” Euphemia stammered as she happily rushed out of the ward.

Suzaku, taking in the view of his beloved waking up finally, leaned in closely and caressed his face. His other hand was busy holding onto Lelouch’s.

Lelouch turned from Gino to Suzaku as he felt the trembling touch. Lelouch only stared at him with eyes full of pleasure, sadness, happiness, excitement, and tears rolled down, even though he had tried to hold them back.

Suzaku wiped off his tears with his thumb before calling out his name gently.

“Lelouch...I’ve come to get you,” Suzaku attempted a smile, but it was failing miserably, as when he smiled, he cried too. It was such a huge relief.

Lelouch nodded and brought his hand up and caressed Suzaku’s face. Both of them were glad to meet each other again. Suzaku, who could hardly stand the urge anymore, reached down to Gino and Lelouch and hugged them both together. Lelouch patted both their backs as he cried into Suzaku’s neck.

Euphemia, who had brought Cecile with her, both stopped at the door as they watched them embracing each other as if there was no tomorrow. They both smiled and decided to wait outside for a little while longer.

* * *

Suzaku was drying off his hair while walking out of the bathroom. He hung the towel back to the hanger and walked towards Lelouch’s bed. Lelouch was still sleeping as he had had a whole day of checking ups yesterday, straight away after he had woken up from the two weeks of coma. Suzaku was adjusting the blanket on Lelouch and Gino, who was sleeping soundly beside Lelouch for the first time ever since Lelouch was in coma. He stared dearly onto Lelouch’s calm face and pushed away some hair which was covering his forehead. He gently caressed Lelouch’s hand as he absorbed Lelouch’s features again. He had been doing this for God knows how many times and he still loved to just gaze at him whenever he was asleep or while talking.

Just then, Euphemia came in after she had knocked the door softly. Suzaku turned to look at her and nodded as a greeting. He was so thankful that Euphemia found him, no, found the both of them and reunite them once again. He was so thankful that no matter how much he had tried to repay her kindness, she would just turn it down and say, “I’m just glad that the both of you are back together. That’s more than enough to repay me.” Then, she would give a sad smile. It was not that Suzaku did not understand that, but he just knew it too well. Her heart now was broken as she had never known her dad to be such a person.

“Oh…he’s still sleeping,” she whispered. “Anyway, Cecile wants to see you. She’s in her office.”

Suzaku nodded, “Look after him for me?”

“Sure,” she gave him a reassuring smile.

“Thanks,” he said before leaving

* * *

Cecile was looking at her documents when Suzaku came in. Without looking up, she asked him to have a seat in front of her desk. As he made himself comfortable, Cecile spoke.

“Sir Kururugi, according to the report, Lelouch is fine,” she stopped and noticed that Suzaku had relaxed. Then, she continued, “Though, he’s quite low in his blood pressure.”

“I see,” Suzaku replied. He knew the reason for it. He was in fault for not taking care of him.

Cecile finally looked up. She noticed the guilt in his look. So, she replied, “Sir Kururugi, I don’t take it as your fault for not taking care of him. It was his own body that refuses to take care of himself. I don’t really blame Lelouch actually; I know the reason why he was so desperate. Anyhow, please make sure he has a balance diet from now on. I suggest more protein would do some help.”

“Yes, I’ll make sure of that,” Suzaku replied.

“And also,” Cecile continued. “I’ll be sending one of the doctors to check on Lelouch every morning, for at least a week or so, just to confirm his health stability.”

Suzaku looked at her with confused eyes. “What do you mean sending the doctor to him? Aren’t you right here now? Isn’t Lelouch now in the hospital too?”

“I meant that Lelouch can check out today.”

“Oh…” Suzaku was dumbstruck.

“I won’t be able to go check on him ‘cause I still have this hospital to run. My colleague will be the one to go. She’s trustworthy, so don’t worry. And besides, you’ve been nagging about checking him out the sooner the better anyway.”

“Erm…did I?”

“Not directly,” Cecile smiled. “That’s all then, sir Kururugi. I have some other work to do. You can go back to your lover’s side now.”

Suzaku blushed a little before he smirked.

“It’s that obvious, is it?”

Cecile only smiled back as Suzaku walked out of the room.

* * *

Euphemia was sitting on the chair beside the bed as she waited for Suzaku to come back. While she was waiting, Lelouch had stirred from his sleep. He blinked a few times before stretching himself. Then, he turned and looked at Euphemia. He smiled.

“Morning,” Lelouch greeted.

Euphemia giggled, “Morning to you, Lelouch. It’s afternoon now.”

“Oh…it’s that late already?” Lelouch asked as he turned his head slightly upwards to look at the clock.

“Yes. By the way, Suzaku was called to Cecile’s office. So, I’m here in his place for a moment. You need anything?” she asked.

Lelouch nodded, “Water, please.”

Euphemia got up, took the empty glass and poured some water from the flask. Before she passed it to her, she left it on the table beside it and helped Lelouch to sit up on the bed. They carefully shifted so as not to disturb Gino who was still sleeping beside him. Then, Euphemia gave him the glass of water.

After drinking it, he passed it back to Euphemia and she put it back on the table. As she sat, Lelouch was wondering what else they should talk about. It became kind of awkward ever since they realized they were half siblings.

“Sorry,” Euphemia started. Lelouch looked curiously at her. She continued, “My dad…you know…”

“Oh…” Lelouch said as he turned his gaze back to the blanket. “It’s…it’s OK. Just…forget about it…”

Euphemia stared at him for a moment and sighed. This is her elder brother in front of him, but she still felt awkward and tension talking to him. As if he was a total stranger once again.

“We’re still friends, right?” she said carefully. Lelouch did not reply her immediately. Euphemia was worried that this relationship could not be kept at all. Then, Lelouch slowly turned back to her and smiled.

“Yeah…we’re still friends...and family too.” Euphemia was shocked. Family? He accepted her as a family? Oh god! She felt like crying all of a sudden.

“Thanks, Le-I mean, big brother. I’ve always wanted a sibling. I’m happy that I can have one now,” she replied and smiled, and unknowingly touched her eyes with tears.

Still with that smile on his face, he held out his arms. Euphemia did not quite get what Lelouch was trying to do. Then, it struck her mind. She slowly leaned into his arms and hugged him, tight. Lelouch caressed her softly while Euphemia cried silent tears into his chest.

Suzaku was on his way back to Lelouch’s room before he stopped dead at the glass window. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Lelouch was…hugging? And it was Euphemia he was hugging to? Did he… Did they…? Was he…rejected? Even after that kiss he had given him? Suzaku was shocked and sad at the same time. He was not sure if he should just walk in and pull Euphemia away and tell her straight that “Lelouch’s mine!” or just let them be?

It was almost five minutes later when Suzaku decided to walk in. He knocked the door loudly on purpose, and walked in casually as if nothing had happened. Euphemia and Lelouch pulled away as Suzaku came into the room. Euphemia wiped away her tears before standing.

'Wait…tears? Why was she crying? Aren’t I supposed to be crying instead? Or…maybe…Lelouch rejected her? Really?' Suzaku was debating mentally, but couldn’t help to smile a bit at the last option.

Euphemia was back to her cheerful type again soon after she wiped away her tears.

“I should be going, since Suzaku’s back already. Anyway, thanks, big brother. I owe you one, a big one too,” she replied with a large smile.

Lelouch shook his head, “No…I owe you one first. So now, it’s a draw.”

Euphemia chuckled and nodded, “Right! I’ll see you next time, okay? Take good care of yourself.” As she finished, she walked to the door.

“Thank you, Euphy,” Lelouch replied and Euphemia smiled one last time before disappearing out of the room.

Suzaku, on the other hand, did not know what had just happen, though all he knew was that Euphemia had become Lelouch’s sister, and Lelouch was the elder one. He sighed mentally in relief; at least Lelouch was still his.

“Suzaku?” Suzaku was startled.

“Y-yes? What is it?”

“You were spacing out. Is everything okay?” Lelouch asked as he frowned a little.

Suzaku quickly smiled and replied, “Fine! Everything’s fine.”

Lelouch stared at him for a while, trying to dig out any suspicions from him. When he could not get any, he asked, “What did Cecile say?”

“Cecile? Ah! Right! She said you can leave today. Though, she’ll be sending her colleague to check up on you every morning, till your health stabilized,” Suzaku replied with some slight blush on his face. He did not know why he was nervous all of the sudden. Could it be Lelouch’s stare that made him this way, this feeling of melting from within?

“I see. Let’s go, then,” Lelouch was already taking away his blanket and was about to come down from bed when Suzaku stopped him immediately.

“Wait! I’ll go get a wheel chair for you.”

“It’s okay. I can walk.”

“No. Just stay put and I’ll be back in a while,” Suzaku said as he quickly walked towards the door. Before he shut it, he told Lelouch, “Wake Gino up while I go and grab the wheel chair.” Then, he left.

Lelouch only blinked when Suzaku suddenly became strict in giving orders. After the door finally shut close, Lelouch snapped out of his daze and woke Gino up.

* * *

After a long journey from town, they had finally reached a mansion, which was much larger than the mayor’s.

Lelouch was on the wheel chair with Suzaku pushing him, while Gino walked beside them. The door was opened by the servants and all of them bowed and greeted them. Suzaku only nodded and continued pushing him into the living room.

The mansion was quiet and only the rustling sounds of the servants walking around cleaning the mansion could be heard. Lelouch felt weird as the mansion was empty where it was suppose to have many people in it.

“Are you living here alone, Suzaku?” Lelouch asked.

“No, 'course not,” Suzaku chuckled. “I’m living with the General’s family. His family is quite big but now they’re all at work and one still studying in the library, I suppose.”

Lelouch was shocked, “This mansion has its own library?”

“Yes, there’re lots of books there.”

Suzaku stopped the wheelchair at the staircase. Lelouch tried to stand while holding onto the side of the stairs. Gino was already prepared to catch him whenever he falls.

“You sure you want to walk up? The doctor said you shouldn’t move too much just yet,” Suzaku asked, worried, though he had his arm around Lelouch’s waist to support him.

“I can walk,” said Lelouch as he walked up a step.

Suzaku frowned as he helped Lelouch up the stairs step by step. He could feel Lelouch being wobbly and his legs were still not stable yet. Thus, with one swift swing, he carried Lelouch up in his muscular arms and went up the stairs.

Lelouch almost screamed and blushed, “S-Suzaku! Put me down! I can…”

“Not on the stairs, Lelouch. Your legs were shaking too much, I’m scared you’ll fall,” Suzaku cut in.

Then, Gino came in front of them and said, “Gino wants to carry too!” and he held out his arms.

Suzaku chuckled and replied, “Sure…”

“Suzaku!” Lelouch shouted as he blushed.

“After you’ve grown up,” Suzaku finished his sentence. Gino only nodded and smiled.

Lelouch sighed in relief, “God, you scared me, Suzaku.”

“I was joking, and also, you look cute blushing,” Suzaku smiled.

“I-I don’t!” Lelouch stammered and looked away from him. Gino heard the word “cute” and kept on repeating it till they reached the top of the stairs and into a room. Suzaku only laughed, while Lelouch blushed even more.

Lelouch was put down gently on the bed. Gino, however, was walking around the room, looking and touching all the exclusive things around it. Lelouch was mesmerized by the size of the room. It was extremely large and it could actually fit a medium sized living room in it too. The bed he was sitting on was a king sized bed, covered with golden brown bed sheets. The pillows were also soft and comfy.

Suzaku sat beside him and asked, “You like the room?”

Lelouch nodded slightly and asked back, “Whose room is this?”

“It’s mine,” Lelouch stared at him with big eyes. Suzaku chuckled. “It’s true. For now, it’s mine.”

“But, isn’t it too big for one person?”

“Hm…” Suzaku looked around. “I did think that it’s actually kind of large for me, but all the rooms here are almost the same,” he stopped his stare at Lelouch and smiled.

Lelouch mouthed an “Oh” while looking over to the fireplace. Just then, he felt chill sent all over his body. It was wrong to say he liked this room, that fireplace had brought back those memories. His mother was stroking him, but died in the next second. Lelouch tried shaking his head to get it off, but it was still there.

Suzaku was looking at Lelouch all the time. He saw Lelouch suddenly having a deep frown, then he was sweating, slight shivering. He followed Lelouch’s gaze to the fireplace, and realized what was going on. He grabbed hold both of Lelouch’s hand with one of his and the other turned Lelouch’s face towards him. He stared straight into the eyes.

“Lelouch, are you okay?” Suzaku asked in a worried tone.

Lelouch looked into those caring eyes and tried to answer him calmly, “I-I’m fine.”

“The memories came back, didn’t they?” Suzaku asked again. He knew he had guessed it right when Lelouch slightly jumped at his question.

“N-No…it’s…it’s nothing,” Lelouch lied, but he believed that Suzaku knew.

Suzaku sighed, “Lelouch, I promise we’ll shift out of this place once the war has stopped.”

“There’s no need to…”

“I just don’t feel like bothering the General and his family,” Suzaku smiled. “And I want to live with you, alone,” he continued his last sentence in almost a whisper.

Lelouch blushed, as he just continued staring at Suzaku, coming closer and closer. His heartbeat was racing and he could feel his face getting warmer and warmer. Their faces were only inches apart. He knew he should get back, but his heart tells him that he should not. Maybe, he thought, maybe just this once and he would think about regret later on.

He shut his eyes, feeling the hot breath getting closer, and closer, and closer…

“PRING!!”

Lelouch jumped away as he heard the crashing sound. He quickly turned towards that direction and saw Gino standing still at the spot where the vase broke. Gino was almost in a verge of tears.

“Gino!” Lelouch shouted and quickly got up from bed and ran towards him. He seriously thought that he should apologize to Suzaku later, maybe not about the broken vase, but for his actions.

Suzaku stopped immediately as he heard the sound. He quickly opened his eyes and saw that Lelouch was already away from him, and was on his way towards Gino. He only stared as Lelouch went away. He sighed silently. He was so near to capture one more time of those lips he missed so much.

Suzaku stood up, as if nothing had happened between him and Lelouch, and said in a rush, “I’ll ask them to clean it up. Both of you, stay away from that.”

As Suzaku rushed out of the room, Lelouch were trying hard to calm the scared Gino. He sat slowly on the floor, making sure there were no broken pieces around before doing so. Then, he brought Gino down to sit on his lap. Lelouch didn’t know what else he should do. Gino was still crying but all he could do was to stroke his hair while hugging him, hushing him.

Just then, a knock came from the door. A girl with long and curly brown hair was standing at the door.

“May I come in?” she asked gently.

“Sure, but be careful of the broken pieces,” Lelouch warned her.

She nodded and walked in elegantly. She stopped beside him and held out a candy for Gino.

“You’re not cute anymore if you cry. Here, take this,” she smiled.

Gino slowly looked up at her and took the candy hesitantly. Surprisingly, he had stopped crying.

“There, aren’t you cute now?” she smiled.

Gino hid his face in Lelouch’s chest and refused to look at her. She chuckled.

Lelouch let out a small sigh and thanked her, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied. “Anyway, I’m Nunnally. I’m the youngest child in the family, 16 years old and I study on my own. Dad wouldn’t let me go to school since there’s a war.”

“Oh…I’m Lelouch,” he said. Then, he suddenly remembered the library. “Can I use your library sometimes?”

“Sure! It’s the last room along this corridor.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said and continued observing Gino.

After a while, the servants came to clean up and Suzaku came in.

“Lelouch, I got them to get ready the bathroom for y-…” Suzaku stopped halfway as he suddenly realized Nunnally was there. “S-sorry!”

“Oh, Suzaku! Don’t worry. You came just in time. I’m about to leave anyway. See you later during dinner,” she caressed slightly on Gino’s hand. Gino looked up shyly. “I’ll see you too later, all right?” Gino nodded and gave a small smile. She smiled too and left.

Suzaku walked towards Lelouch and said, “Guess there’s no need for me to introduce her to you already.”

Lelouch chuckled, “Nope. Anyway, you were saying?”

“Oh! I got them to prepare the bathroom for you and you can use my clothes in the closet. Is that okay for you?”

“Yes. Anything will do.”

“Okay,” said Suzaku and he was about to leave when suddenly Lelouch called out to him.

“Suzaku?”

Suzaku stopped and turned, “What is it?”

“Sorry about just now.”

Suzaku blinked twice. Then, he replied with a smile, “Oh! Don’t mind it. The General has lots of them in his collection.”

Now, Lelouch was the one to blink. Suzaku continued, “By the way, I’ll get some clothes for Gino too. So, don’t worry.” With that, he left.

Lelouch looked at the door, and then he laughed. Apparently, Suzaku did not understand what he was apologizing for. And, as for Lelouch, he guessed he was not really apologizing about the vase after all.

Gino stared as Lelouch laughed. Lelouch saw the curious stare and told him, “Your Papa is so blur yet so cute.”

Gino heard the word ‘cute’ and started laughing and repeating, “Papa cute!”

* * *

During dinner, Suzaku invited Lelouch to join him and the whole General’s family. A bit of reluctance, a bit of awkwardness, Lelouch still followed Suzaku to the dining room and joined them. Once he stepped into it, he was slightly shocked as he never thought he would be seeing the whole family sitting together around the dining table. Weren’t they supposed to be busy because of the war?

Suzaku then introduced all the General’s family members to Lelouch. First off, Schneizel, the tall man with blonde hair, was sitting in the middle of the long table. On his right, Cornelia, Schneizel’s wife, has long purplish-pink hair. On his left, Clovis, another blonde but skinny looking guy. Then, next to Cornelia were Nunnally and Gino. Suzaku then sat beside Clovis, and Lelouch sat beside him.

Delicious and pretty looking food was sent out to all of them. Everyone ate silently, except a certain someone who was not in a very good mood for the food. Suzaku noticed Lelouch was not touching the food but only stared at it. He asked softly, concerned.

“Lelouch, is anything a problem?”

Lelouch snapped out from his stare upon hearing Suzaku's voice, “N-nothing. The food is good.” He faked a smile. Then, he quickly picked up the fork and knife and started cutting the meat.

Suzaku noticed the fake smile but he did not want to continue asking him. With a smile as a reply, he continued eating. He decided to ask him later.

“Suzaku,” a deep voice called out.

“Yes, General?” Suzaku replied.

“You are to join us for the meeting after dinner. The planning we made had some changes.”

“Sure.”

'So, the whole family is in for the war, except for Nunnally,' Lelouch thought. He felt a little pity for her as she was left being alone most of the time too, even though her family was still around her.

He looked up to her, but noticed she was smiling happily, teaching Gino how to hold a fork properly. Inwardly, he smiled. Maybe she was not alone after all. Gino would be a great companion for her.

* * *

Staring out of the window in the large room, Lelouch wondered if he was being lonely again, though he knew Suzaku was just a few rooms away, and Gino was having fun with Nunnally. That aside, he had a strange feeling just staying there. The luxurious house, the expensive furniture, the historical portraits, the delicious and good looking food… For a war victim like him, he could not bring himself to enjoy. He used to cursed rich people for their selfishness, blamed the poor for being weak. But, now that he had been in both societies, he did not know what he should do and should not do. He pitied the victims out there with no food and no water, but he could do nothing. He was weak, he knew, and he was ashamed of himself. He could only hope that this war would end soon, and the only person who could carry out his hope, was Suzaku.

What if he failed? Lelouch would never think that way, because it was Suzaku. Suzaku, that finally came for him no matter how long they had been apart; Suzaku, that had saved him from during their first meeting; Suzaku, is Suzaku, and he trusted him.

 _“Lelouch, do you think you really trust him?”_ he suddenly asked himself. That day, Suzaku did promised to come for him the next morning, but in the end he did not made it.

“But he still came in the end…”

_“You know he’ll leave again…don't you?”_

Suzaku would leave him again, because of the war. He knew it, but…

_“You know there’s a chance he won’t be back…”_

“No…he’ll be back…because…he loves me…”

_“Lelouch, don’t pull yourself in too deep. You’ll get hurt in the end…”_

“But…I…”

_“Nobody wants to be hurt, Lelouch.”_

No…nobody wants to be hurt, not even him. If getting further away from Suzaku will lessen the pain, then, he will do it. And besides, Suzaku will be able to have a better chance in fight if he does not think about him all the time. That would be the best way, the only way.

 

_TBC_


	7. Truth

The meeting ended as they agreed to their final changes on the plan. Though it was tiring thinking strategies after strategies, the only thing that Suzaku anticipated at the end of that meeting was to be with his lover. Immediately after he bid the General and his family goodnight, he went in search of Lelouch.

His footsteps were in a fast walking speed; his heart was in a rapid beating; his face hung with a wide smile. As he opened the door of his bedroom, he stopped.

He was not there. The lights were on, the bed was nicely set and untouched, the sofas were in their original place, the curtains were nicely tied up, the windows were shut tight, but he was not there. Lelouch was not there.

Suzaku shut the door and he stared at it blankly. If he was not in the room, where could he be?

“Downstairs…”

Suzaku went down quickly and started to search for Lelouch.

* * *

The room was filled with mahogany made shelves, old and new books, arranged tables and chairs, and some portraits hanging on the wall. From the looks of it, one would think this room would have an ancient feel to it, plus the smell of books made out of oak trees. It might be intoxicating, it might be annoying, but to Lelouch, the smell made him calm. With him leaning against the shelf, hands holding William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the smell just made him immersed into it even more.

Why did he end up here? Apparently, leaving Suzaku was a tough job. He knew running out of the mansion right then would only turn him into a worse tragedy. But, what was more was he could not bring himself to even walk out of the mansion. It was not like he did not try, he did, but he ended up staring at the doorknob as if it would turn and open for him magically. After his own mental defeat on his own weakness, he convinced himself to just stay in the library and prayed that Suzaku would not find him there.

Then again, his mind was playing the same questions again and again even when he was reading. How did Suzaku managed to leave him and Gino alone back then if he really loved them? What was it that gave him the courage to leave just like that? Was it because he knew it back then that he would die anyway? Or was it because he knew he would save them anyway? Though Lelouch had a hunch that Suzaku was not selfish, but he could not help thinking that maybe somewhere inside him was. Besides the fact that Suzaku was being a little selfish, Lelouch could not stop asking himself, why did not Suzaku came for him the next day?

“It hurts…” Lelouch whispered. It was not about Romeo dying for Juliet or vice versa, it was the undying questions and confusions that hurt him, his heart, so much.

He shut the book and put it back on the shelf. He reached for another, ‘Macbeth’, and started reading it. While doing so, he walked out of the row of shelves and went to sit on the sofa a few shelves away from it. He stopped after the third sentence. He laid his head back onto the sofa and closed his eyes. A short nap should help him boost some energy for his readings later.

Still, even with his real intention of continuing his readings in this enormous library and not going out at all, somewhere in his heart were continuously calling.

“Suzaku, when are you coming to get me?”

* * *

He panicked. Lelouch were nowhere to be found. He was not in the kitchen, not in the dining room, not in the living room, not in the study room, not in the hallway, not in the yard, not in the room, not anywhere! Suzaku had been running from back to front, from down to up. He had no idea where did he go. Did Lelouch just gone out of the mansion? Would he do that? But, why would he do that? What was it that he had done? Did Lelouch hate the dinner? It must be! He knew Lelouch was having some problems. He should have asked him straight after dinner and not after the meeting. Now Lelouch was nowhere and he could not even get the chance to ask why.

He had been walking all the time while thinking till he did not realize he had banged into a door. Gently soothing the pain on his forehead, he looked up. The word ‘Library’ shone brightly on the door.

The library! He had totally forgotten that the mansion had its own library. Lelouch would be in there, he knew, as he remembered the look Lelouch had in his eyes when he heard about the library.

“Lelouch would definitely be in here,” Suzaku assured himself while he silently prayed that Lelouch really was in there.

Slowly, he opened the door and took a step in. Then, he cursed. It seemed that he had also forgotten that the library was a massive room with lots of shelves.

He took a deep breath and heaved out. He shut the door slowly as not to make any noise. Then, he started his search from the first shelf of books which was arranged alphabetically.

Looking through shelves again and again, till the tenth shelf, Suzaku had started to become impatient. Still, he went on, the eleventh shelf, twelfth, thirteenth… till the thirtieth shelf and still no sign of Lelouch. Suzaku was about to scream when he suddenly heard a silent murmur. He paused. Then, it was gone. Maybe it was only his imagination. He took in a deep breath again and continued searching.

It was the thirty-fifth shelf and he was seriously starting to go out of his mind, when he heard the same murmur again, and this time, it was much clearer.

“Suzaku…”

Lelouch! It was Lelouch’s voice! It was definitely Lelouch. With that as a greater hope, he rushed through the shelves, but eventually skipped most of them and straight away ran to the last shelf, the sixtieth one.

Lelouch was not there, not in between the shelves, but he was there, napping on the sofa with a book opened on his lap. Suzaku finally relaxed.

With a smile on his face, he stared at Lelouch’s calm sleeping face and slowly walked towards him. As silently as possible, he moved away Lelouch’s hands and took away the book. He left it on the small table beside them. Then, he gently lifted Lelouch’s right arm and hung around his neck. With one arm of his behind Lelouch’s back and another underneath Lelouch’s knees, he lifted Lelouch up bridal style, walked pass shelves again, heading towards the door.

Lelouch stirred as he felt movements around him. He opened his eyes to meet with emerald ones, who so happen to look down at him.

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” Suzaku asked while smiling.

“Yes…not really,” Lelouch replied. The movement did make him curious, but what woke him up was the soothing smell of Suzaku's shampoo. He thought it was just his imagination, but he never knew it was really him. Lelouch was happy, very happy in fact, but he did not show it out. He still was not sure if this should be good or bad.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll put you on the bed,” Suzaku told him with that smooth and gentle voice of his. Since it was Suzaku and his soothing smell and voice, he could not bring himself to stay longer in his arms.

“Put me down, Suzaku,” Lelouch said softly and sat up in Suzaku's arms. Slowly, Suzaku put him down and Lelouch adjusted his clothing.

“You can just sleep and I’ll make sure to put you on bed and nothing more,” Suzaku told him. He felt a little uneasy with Lelouch’s behavior.

“I’m not worried about that Suzaku,” Lelouch replied, which made Suzaku felt relieved. At least he did not do something wrong.

“Can you bring me to the guest room?” Lelouch asked as he started to walk in front of Suzaku.

“We have a guest room, more than that actually, but you can stay in my room. The bed’s too big for a person anyway,” Suzaku tried to make it sounded like a joke, even though his heart was beating very fast and his mind was telling him that something was definitely wrong.

“I’m…not use to sharing beds,” Lelouch simply uttered a reply. The sound of sharing a bed with another person, who was the person you like, was tempting but he could not do that. He knew if he was going to be any nearer to Suzaku, both of them would definitely get hurt, even deeper in fact.

Lelouch was lying, he knew it. Suzaku had it. He knew something was wrong. He could not stand it anymore. He rushed towards Lelouch’s side and pulled Lelouch arm and made him face him straight.

“What’s wrong, Lelouch? You’ve been acting weird since dinner. Was it the food? Was it the size of the mansion? Was it the General’s family? If it really were those, I promised that we’ll shift out once the war ended.”

Lelouch looked away and remained silent. That worried Suzaku even more.

“If…if it weren’t those, was it…something that I’ve done?” Suzaku was afraid. It was the second time in his whole life that he felt scared. The first was when he left Lelouch and Gino back then, where he was not sure if he would be able to get them back the next day, nor was he sure that he or them would be safe at all. Now was the second time he was afraid, afraid that Lelouch would leave his side again.

Lelouch did not know how to answer. He, himself, was not sure if he was doing the right thing. But, if leaving Suzaku would definitely help them win the war, save him all the confusions and worries, and give them less pain, he would do it, even if it hurt a lot for now. Slowly, he built up his courage and pushed away Suzaku’s hand.

“If possible, I want to leave here right now. I want to stay in a place further away from here and the war. Gino will be coming with me,” Lelouch said while looking down.

Suzaku was in a great shock. How did it all become this way? What had he done to drive Lelouch further away from him? Why was Lelouch doing this?

“Le-Lelouch, you did not answer me…” Suzaku stammered out. Somehow, he did not want to know the answer.

Lelouch kept his mouth shut. He knew he was in verge of tears, but he did not want him to see. He could not even bring himself to talk; he knew Suzaku would find out. He had to leave, now. Now!

Lelouch turned around and quickly walked away, but was soon stopped by a pair of strong arms wrapping around him tightly and brought him close to the firm chest behind him. He could even feel Suzaku’s hot, fast breath on his skin around his neck. Lelouch’s heart was beating very fast; his cheeks were blushing with extreme redness. He totally did not know how to react, he was totally stunned. Should he run or should he just stay, he could not think at all.

“Why, Lelouch? Why do you want to leave now? What is it that I’ve done? Do you really hate me that much, Lelouch? Why are you doing this?” Suzaku asked all at once. He needed the answers, especially if they were about him and Lelouch.

“Suzaku…” Lelouch breathed out. ' _Oh no,'_ Lelouch thought. He was reaching his limit soon.

“Tell me, Lelouch. Answer me. I won’t be able to understand anything if you’re going to keep it all in your heart. Let it out, Lelouch. Let me know, so that I’ll be able to change and save us,” Suzaku sounded desperate as he spoke in a soft tone. He really needed to know what was wrong with him, or even this relationship.

The surrounding lights just did not help at all. The yellow lights were shining brightly on his face, showing tears rolling down Lelouch’s face. Lelouch looked up at the ceiling with those sad eyes of his, which were actually quite desperate too. Just then he realized that the ceiling was carved with angels and some Greek history.

“I can’t just let you go, Lelouch, not after so long that I’ve finally got you back with me. I won’t be able to survive if you’re going to be gone again. I really don’t want you to leave, Lelouch. So please tell me, tell me anything, I’ll listen to all you have to say but please don’t leave me. I…I want you with me,” Suzaku continued.

 _'I felt the same too…'_ Lelouch said in his mind. He knew it was true that he could not live without Suzaku, and he knew that if he left right now, there would be no promises that he would ever be alive again to meet Suzaku after the war. Moreover, he would never be able to live if Suzaku had married to another girl. No, he would never want to see that.

Slowly, Lelouch opened his mouth. He took in a small breath and whispered, “Save me. Save me from this pain.”

Suzaku lifted up his head and saw the stream of tears flowing down Lelouch’s cheeks. He brought up one hand of his and wiped away the tears, but they still flowed down anyway.

“Tell me, Lelouch. I’ll save you. I promise,” Suzaku replied.

* * *

The room was dark; the curtain was tied up neatly at the side, the moonlight shone onto the two figures in each other’s arm on the bed. Suzaku was gently stroking Lelouch’s hair while Lelouch lied on Suzaku’s chest and just hung onto Suzaku as if he was going to disappear any moment.

“Lelouch…” Suzaku called out.

Lelouch’s half lidded eyes closed as he crawled deeper into Suzaku’s arms.

“Lelouch, you have to…”

“Suzaku…”

Suzaku was silent. Lelouch was finally prepared to tell him, whatever it was.

“Why didn’t you come back for us as you’ve promised?” Lelouch asked his first question.

From that, he knew Lelouch was asking him about the day where they were chased by the enemies.

“I was shot,” Suzaku said carefully. Lelouch looked up immediately and stared at him with great big eyes full of worries. Suzaku chuckled lightly. “I’m fully healed after a week though.”

“Who saved you?” Lelouch asked after heaving out a sigh.

“My comrades, so happen they were there when I fainted. They saved me and brought me back to their campsite,” Suzaku replied.

“Oh…you’re lucky,” Lelouch said softly and went back to lying on his chest. Suzaku’s smiling face dropped.

“I’m sorry I wasn't able to be there to get you, Lelouch. My comrades kept stopping me from getting out of the camp. I was even tied up by them to stop me from moving.”

“They’re not wrong. You need to heal yourself before you could even walk.”

“I did tell them to go and get you but when they were back, they said you were not there anymore. I panicked, then. I was worried that you might be taken by the enemies. I struggled even more to get out but they had to hit me and made me sleep for a week. I’m sorry, Lelouch.”

Surprisingly, Lelouch chuckled, “Your comrades sure are one group of funny people. I guess they hurt you more than they protect you then?”

Suzaku stared at him for a moment. It was long since he last heard Lelouch laughed at him but he was relieved. At least Lelouch was back to being fine again and for the moment, there was no need to worry about him leaving again.

“Guess so, and yeah, they’re one bunch of funny friends actually. I’ll introduce them to you next time,” Suzaku said while smiling.

After a little silent moment, he continued, “I was finding you all the time, Lelouch. I tried hard to track you down and search for any clues about you. Though, I guess I’m quite a lucky guy. When I finally heard news about you, I straight away went for you. I don’t care if it weren’t the right person, because in this world, there’s only one Lelouch I know that will always be here…” He held Lelouch’s hand and put it on his chest. “…deep in my heart.” He finished.

Lelouch blushed as he looked at his hand on Suzaku’s chest. Even so, he did not want to take it away from him, instead he clutched to Suzaku’s hand and did not want to let go. He wanted it this way, forever and ever.

“Suzaku…”

“Hm?”

Lelouch was silent again. Should he tell him, the days where he had suffered? Or should he just forget about it? Maybe he should just keep quiet about it, for now.

“What is it, Lelouch? Just tell me anything, don’t worry. It would be so much better if you could just say it out of your mind,” Suzaku reminded him.

Lelouch nodded, but he decided to use a different approach, “Why was it so easy for you to leave us that day? Why was it so hard for me to leave you?”

Suzaku went silent immediately. Why? Was it not obvious? Suzaku smiled a little and replied, “Because I had to protect you, which was why I had to leave even if my feelings were telling me not to. As for you, it’s because you don’t want to. You have a strong feeling that’s telling you not to. Your mind might be telling you to leave, but your feelings said not to.”

“What feelings are these then, Suzaku?” Lelouch knew the answer, he just wanted to listen them coming out from Suzaku’s mouth.

“These feelings, they’re the miracle of life, Lelouch. You sure you don’t know?” Suzaku said as he held up Lelouch’s face to look up at him. They stared deeply into each other’s eyes.

“I’m not sure, Suzaku. Can you tell me?” Lelouch replied as he could feel Suzaku getting closer to him, just like what had happen that morning where they almost had it.

“You’re sure?” Suzaku asked as he leaned in closer and closer. They were only inches apart and they could feel each other’s hot breath.

“Yeah…” Lelouch was blushing deeply. He could feel his whole body heating up in an instant. This was it, the moment that he had longed for.

“Lelouch…”

“Nnh?”

“I love you…”

With that, Suzaku landed a firm, sweet yet passionate kiss on Lelouch’s lips. Finally, they were true to their own feelings. Finally, they would be able to stay like this without doubt and confusion. This was what Lelouch, and Suzaku, had both longed for.

“Love you too, Suzaku…” Lelouch said after they parted. Suzaku smiled, and so did Lelouch, before they once again immersed into the sea of love that night.

 

_TBC_


	8. Longing

Bright sunshine shone onto his still sleeping face. He frowned, turned away from it, and crawled deeper into the arms wrapped around him. He breathed in the familiar smell and slowly opened his eyes. In front of him laid another man, sleeping peacefully. Taking in the view in front of him, Lelouch could not stop smiling. After so long, he finally had a chance to be with Suzaku alone. Slowly caressing his face and pushed away the soft hair that covered his forehead, he kissed lightly on it and continued to stare at him. How he had managed to live without him was unknown.

It was not long till two soft knocks were heard from the door. He pushed away Suzaku’s hands slowly, and sat up. Looking over, the maid had opened the unlock door and said softly, “Lelouch sir, Dr. Rakshata is here for your check ups.” Lelouch nodded. The maid bowed before leaving and closing the door shut again. Sitting beside the bed, he looked at Suzaku one last time, before getting up to wash up.

* * *

It was the best night indeed. Suzaku had been lying on the bed all the time with his beloved in his arms…

Suzaku strained open his eyes and sat up immediately. Lelouch was nowhere in his arms. He looked all over the room and did not see Lelouch at all. He jumped down of the bed and quickly rushed towards the door. He opened it with force and was face to face with Nunnally, who was also shocked by his sudden appearance.

“Oh! Good morning, Suzaku. We’re on our way for breakfast. Care to join us?” Nunnally asked with Gino standing by her side for one second, and jumping towards Suzaku the next.

“Good morning, Papa!” Gino greeted excitedly.

“M-morning…Did you happen to see Lelouch?” Suzaku asked.

“He’s having his check-ups in the next room. Dr. Rakshata is here to check him up,” Nunnally answered and Suzaku finally relaxed. Nunnally noticed the sudden relief and chuckled. “He’ll be fine, Suzaku. Now, go and wash up and we’ll meet you downstairs, okay?”

Suzaku blushed and smiled, “Yeah, sure. Gino, go ahead and have your breakfast first. I’ll be down in a while.”

Gino smiled widely and nodded before following Nunnally down the stairs.

Suzaku looked on as the both of them walked down the stairs. Then, he went back into his room and changed.

* * *

Gino was sitting at the dining table with Nunnally beside him, helping him cut the sausages. Suzaku came in and sat opposite them and started dining in. The three of them ate silently, with an occasional laughter from them as Gino cut the sausages into different funny shapes. It was during dessert did Suzaku finally bring up his courage to ask.

“Erm…Nunnally, is it okay for you to leave me and Gino alone? There’s something I need to ask him.”

Nunnally was curious and worried when Suzaku suddenly asked for her permission. Though she was quite interested in knowing why, she knew it would be something private. Thus, reluctantly, she nodded and got up from her sit. Gino turned and looked at her. Nunnally smiled and said, “I’ll be in the library if you need me. Be good, okay?” Gino nodded. Nunnally then left the both of them alone.

After making sure that Nunnally was gone, Suzaku went and sat beside Gino. He looked at Gino and Gino did the same. He tilted his head, waiting for Suzaku to ask him something. Suzaku was not very sure if he should ask Gino about this, but he had been thinking about it all the time. What had happened when he was not around? Maybe the answer for that would help him in solving the reason for Lelouch to want to leave him all of a sudden. But, Gino might not be the right person to ask. He is still a kid anyways.

He looked at Gino still, and Gino just stared at him with innocent eyes. Closing his eyes, Suzaku took a deep breath before asking, “Gino, I need you to tell me, what happened when I was not around?”

Immediately, the look in Gino’s eyes changed. Suzaku was shocked to see such changes made. It was all happy and innocent for one minute, and it changed to desperation and sadness in the next. Now he was wondering if he had asked the right person. But then again, Lelouch would definitely not tell him anything that happen, and that would make things worse.

Patiently, Suzaku waited for Gino to prepare himself. Gino was looking away from Suzaku towards at the empty plate in front of him. Gino fidgeted with his fingers while he slowly opened his mouth to speak.

“Everyday…” he started. “Lulu cries when sleeps…Lulu call papa when sleep…Gino didn’t sleep…Gino wants to help Lulu but can’t…Gino don’t know what to do…Gino scared…Gino…Lulu…” Gino had started to tear up and Suzaku wrapped his arms around him to comfort him.

“Everything’s fine now, Gino. It’s okay. It’s okay,” Suzaku said, feeling guilty for asking him that question.

* * *

“You’re so unhealthy and weak, and since you have yet to take your breakfast, I’m going to make sure you take one now,” Rakshata said as she kept her things into her bag.

“Says the woman who smokes,” Lelouch replied sarcastically. Rakshata glared at Lelouch for a while before opening the door and allowed Lelouch to get out first.

“Smoking is healthy for me,” Rakshata countered back, feeling no shame of what she had just said.

“Yeah, right, whatever,” Lelouch answered as he rolled his eyes. He walked towards the stairs and slowly walked down. Rakshata was behind him, following him all the while.

“Lulu protects me…”

“Gino?” Lelouch asked himself as he heard Gino talking.

“Lulu hurt…bad people hit him…but Gino don’t know what to do…Gino cry but Lulu always smile and say okay…”

“Who is he talking to?” Lelouch asked himself. He quickly walked down the stairs and stopped straight at the dining room as he saw Gino telling Suzaku everything that had happened before they were here.

“Lulu always hurt…Lulu always help me…Lulu good…but…but Gino…Gino…” Gino stammered between sobs. Suzaku himself was almost out of his limits. His eyes were getting red and his arms were tight around Gino. Lelouch stared at them as his mind suddenly brought him back to the time where Suzaku had not found him, those terrible days he had to suffer in order to be alive, and those days where he cried silently in his sleep for Suzaku, even in dreams he would often think about him.

“That’s enough, Gino. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was not there. I’m sorry you both had to suffer. I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” Suzaku apologized as he hugged Gino tighter to calm Gino down.

None of them had noticed Lelouch was there, standing and looking at the both of them. Rakshata was standing still beside Lelouch; listening to everything the kid had said and slowly turned her gazed towards Lelouch. Lelouch had his eyes frowned and tears started to roll down. She knew something was going to happen. Quickly, she walked towards him, but Lelouch had one of his hands on his forehead already, and in just a few seconds, his body started to sway and he collapsed.

“Lelouch!” Rakshata called, which alarmed Suzaku and Gino. Suzaku stood up immediately as he heard Lelouch’s name and quickly rushed out to see a fainted Lelouch lying on the ground.

“Lelouch…Lelouch!” Suzaku shouted while bending down and brought him into his arms.

“Lay him on the sofa, now!” Rakshata commanded and Suzaku simply just followed.

* * *

Rakshata was keeping back her stuffs again after she had checked Lelouch. She sighed before saying, “He’s fine, very low in blood pressure back then, plus the lack of breakfast. Give him a bowl of porridge would do; make sure he finishes them before getting up from this sofa.”

Suzaku nodded and ordered the servant nearby to prepare food for Lelouch, all the while staying beside Lelouch and not moving away from him at all.

“Well then,” Rakshata said as she stood up and held her bag. “I’ll come back again tomorrow to check on him. For the meantime, make sure he doesn’t miss any meals and make sure the meals are healthy. I won’t forgive you for any slight mistake, understand?” She finished her sentence and stared straight at Suzaku, giving him chills.

Suzaku gulped and nodded. Lelouch, however, mumbled, “Quit nagging and leave, old hag.” Then only he opened his eyes slowly.

Rakshata stared at Lelouch with disbelieved. “You’d better not let me know you miss any meals or I’ll have to deal with you on my own! Humph!” She finished and stomped her way out of the mansion.

“Whatever,” Lelouch said as he pushed himself to sit up on the sofa. Suzaku was helping him but could not stop laughing at how Lelouch had treated the doctor.

“You know, Lelouch. Its better not to disobey the doctor, there’s always a reason for all that nagging. And besides, why would you call her an old hag? She doesn’t look that old.”

Lelouch stared at Suzaku with furious eyes.

“W-What?” Suzaku asked in a low tone. Did he say something wrong?

“You don’t think she’s attractive, do you?” Lelouch asked as his stares became darker.

“Eh?” Suzaku blinked twice before it got into his mind. “No! No! It wasn’t that! I only thought that she doesn’t look that old, that’s all! I swear!” Suzaku brought up his right hand and swore.

Lelouch stared a bit longer before he chuckled as he looked at Suzaku’s reaction, “Joking, joking. Don’t worry, Suzaku. I know you’re not that type of a person.”

Suzaku heaved out a sigh and brought back down his hand. He stared at Lelouch as he remembered what Gino had just told him. Gino was brought back into the kitchen to bake cookies with Nunnally after he had confirmed that Lelouch was fine. Suzaku could not help thinking that everything that had happen to Lelouch was his entire fault. He knew he should have gone there earlier to get them, he knew that they would suffer and it was his entire fault for those. And, now he knows why Lelouch had thought of leaving him in the first place. Lelouch would of course feel insecure after what had happen, and it was his entire fault. 

“Don’t take them into your heart, Suzaku,” Lelouch said as if he had read his mind. Lelouch knew just what Suzaku was thinking. The reason for him to be having such a depressed looking face was because Gino had told him everything that he did not want to.

Suzaku sighed, “I’m sorry, Lelouch. It was my fault, everything’s my fault. I’m the one to cause such pain towards the both of you. Lelouch, I…”

“Suzaku, enough, those are the past and I don’t want to listen about it anymore. Please?” Lelouch pleaded. Reluctantly, Suzaku nodded. He would prefer Lelouch to scold him and hurt him instead of keeping everything inside, but if that was what Lelouch want, he would go with it. No matter how hurtful it was to think that it was his entire fault, he still loved Lelouch and really wanted to be with him. So, he would change and promised to protect Lelouch no matter what.

“Lelouch?”

“Yes, Suzaku?”

Suzaku smiled, “You have faith in me, right?”

“Of course I do,” Lelouch replied, though he had a hunch about something was going to happen later.

Still smiling, Suzaku took hold of Lelouch’s hands pecked on them. He said, “And I do too.”

Lelouch smiled. How much weird can it be for somebody to ask that? Maybe he was wrong.

“Sir, breakfast’s done,” the servant came with a tray in her hands and left it on the table.

“Thank you. Just leave it there and I’ll take it from here,” Suzaku replied. The servant then bowed and went back to work.

Suzaku then went to the table and took the bowl of porridge. He sat down beside Lelouch, took a spoonful of it and blew it to cool it off. Then, he put it in front of Lelouch.

“Slowly, it’s still a bit hot,” Suzaku said. Lelouch blushed and wanted to take the bowl from him instead.

“I can feed myself, Suzaku,” he said but Suzaku shook his head and brought the bowl of porridge away from Lelouch’s reach.

“It’s hot and I don’t want you to burn yourself, so let me do it,” Suzaku said and started feeding Lelouch again. Lelouch was still blushing. Reluctantly, he opened his mouth and sipped some of the porridge.

“Taste good?” Suzaku asked.

Lelouch licked his lips before answering, “It’s fine.”

“OK, then,” Suzaku smiled and took another spoonful of porridge and blew it before giving it to Lelouch. With still a blushing face, Lelouch accepted it.

From the doorway of the kitchen, there stood Nunnally who was just passing by and saw the little scene in the living room. She could not help chuckling at the couple for doing such act in the living room, not worrying what the servants might actually think. “Well, as long as they’re happy, I’m fine with anything,” she thought.

* * *

“That’s enough, dear. It’s late now, you need to sleep,” said Suzaku with his arms wrapped around Lelouch’s shoulder as they both lay on the bed.

“Aw…but Mummy, I’m still not tired. I just woke up this morning,” answered Lelouch, who was lying on top of Suzaku’s chest with his arm draped across it. He could feel Suzaku’s chest shaking as he laughed.

A few hours ago, they were playing the role of a mother and a child after they had watched a short movie about it. They were so into the role that they had almost forgotten it was bedtime already.

“Ok, ok. Let’s stop that mother-and-son role playing. My stomach is hurting,” Suzaku said as his laughter faded.

Lelouch chuckled and said nothing more. They were both silent for a moment before Suzaku spoke again.

“Hey, Lelouch?”

“Hm?”

“I’m glad that I met you. You cheered up my life since that day. You’re like the missing puzzle piece that I’ve finally found since long ago.”

Lelouch chuckled, “I felt the same way too. If it hadn’t been you, I guess I’m already dead by now.”

“No, that’s not gonna happen. I’ll be there to save you.”

“Hm…maybe.”

“Lelouch…”

“Yes?”

“Do you trust me, in everything?”

Lelouch felt curious about it and tilted his head up to gaze into Suzaku’s eyes.

“Of course, Suzaku. Or else, I wouldn’t have the chance to be with you right now. Besides, didn’t you ask something like this before today?”

Suzaku smiled, “That’s faith and this is about of trust. Anyway, you’re right.”

This time, Lelouch was worried. Suzaku had asked him twice such sentimental question that it started to worry him.

“Suzaku, is something wrong?”

Suzaku shook his head, “Just have faith in me, and trust me, no matter what my decision is, OK?”

Lelouch laid back down. He decided to not push Suzaku too far.

“It’s alright, Suzaku. I always have faith in you. I’ve never doubted it, except…that though.”

By saying “that”, Suzaku knew which was it, and even he had apologized and promised to not say it out loud again, but that incident was just too painful that it would be difficult to ignore. Still, he wanted to apologize again.

“Sor-…”

Before he could finish, Lelouch silenced him with a light peck on the lips, and smiled. Suzaku was quite shocked of Lelouch’s action, but he still smiled and kissed him back. It was a kiss of assurance that he would not repeat it ever again, never.

After not long, they parted. Suzaku opened his mouth and wanted to talk, but Lelouch came in first.

“Suzaku, no matter what’s going on, or what decision you’ll be making, I’ll always be by your side. I’ll never lose trust, or faith, towards you. And…”

Suzaku smiled. He had guessed what Lelouch would be saying next.

“…I love you, I always do.”

Suzaku pulled him close to his chest and gave him a warm embrace.

“Thank you…” he sighed happily. “I love you too.”

They both dozed off soon in that dark room where only the lights of the moon shone dimly through the window. They had yet to know what was ahead of them.

 

_TBC_


	9. Fate

“Hm…” Lelouch groaned as the sun shone directly into his sleepy eyes. He turned away from it and brought the pillow beside him. A pillow? He opened his eyes and realized that he was not there. Lelouch pushed himself up slowly and looked around the room. Suzaku really was not there.

“Maybe he’s preparing breakfast?” Lelouch thought and his lips curved up into a small smile. As he was imagining what food Suzaku would bring to him, there was a knock on the door as it opened.

“Su-…” Lelouch was about to call out to him when a servant came in. His hope broke to pieces.

“Lelouch, sir, breakfast is ready. Do you need me to bring it up?” said the servant, whom he remembered, was called Sayoko.

“No, I’ll go down later,” he answered sadly.

“Yes, sir.”

“Erm…Sayoko?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Where’s Suzaku?”

“Kururugi-san had gone for work, sir.”

“Oh…thank you.”

Sayoko bowed and left the room.

Lelouch had already forgotten that Suzaku still has his military career, and it was impossible for him to be with him all the time. He sighed.

He went to the dining room and saw Nunnally and Gino enjoying their breakfast. Nunnally noticed his presence and she smiled, “Good morning, Lelouch.”

“Lulu!” Gino shouted. “Lulu! Monin!”

“It’s not ‘monin’, Gino. It’s ‘morning’. Try pronouncing it.” said Nunnally.

“M-mor-ning!”

“That’s right!”

“Yeah! Morning!” Gino cheered as Nunnally chuckled. Lelouch also smiled and sat beside Gino.

“Morning,” he said to the both of them. Then, he started to eat his breakfast.

“How are you feeling today, Lelouch?” asked Nunnally kindly.

“Better,” said Lelouch.

“Oh! That’s good. For your information, Dr. Rakshata will be here around 10am. She wants to check on your condition.”

“Sure, thanks.”

“No problem.”

The both of them were back to silence; only the clinking sound of their utensils could be heard. Then, Gino asked innocently, “Lulu, where’s Papa?”

“Erm…” Lelouch looked at him, not very sure how to answer.

“Your papa has gone to work. He’ll be back late, maybe midnight, after Gino’s already asleep.” Nunnally answered with a smile.

“Mm…” Gino’s lips curved down, obviously showing that he was not really happy with that.

“Don’t worry, Gino. You’ll still get to see him tomorrow,” assured Lelouch while patting lightly on Gino’s head.

“Oh, come on Gino! If you’re sad, Lulu will be sad too,” said Nunnally.

Gino turned to face Lelouch and quickly smiled.

“Gino not sad. Gino got Lulu. Gino happy! So, Lulu also happy!”

Lelouch smiled and nodded. He looked at Gino as Gino returned back to his eating.

“Lelouch…” said Nunnally. Her tone suddenly changed. “There’s a note on the book you’ve read in the library. It’s from Suzaku.”

“Oh, thank you.”

He sat there staring at his food which he ate only half of it. Then, he pushed back his chair and stood up. After saying, “Thanks for the meal” he went upstairs to the library. Nunnally only gazed as he walked out of the dining room.

Gino stared at Nunnally and asked, “Where Lulu going?”

“He’s going to the bathroom,” she lied for now. Later, she’ll have to tell Gino the truth and hope he would understand.

* * *

He pushed open the door and quickly walked pass the same number of bookshelves before reaching to his regular one. There was indeed a note on one of William Shakespeare’s books. He took the note down and started reading. The next thing he knew, he was on the floor with rivulets of tears down his cheek.

 

_“To my Beloved,_

_I’m truly sorry that I have to be gone even before you wake up. It was sudden but the war is nearing us. I have to be at the war with the General and can’t be sure when I would be able to come back. But, if I never did, don’t wait for me. Bring Gino and Nunnally away from here and start a new life somewhere else safer._

_I know you’ll be mad at me for leaving you so suddenly, but please understand that I love you, and I can’t take any chances of you getting harmed. The chat we had yesterday night had made me feel touched and happy. And, it made me realize that how much of an idiot I am for not meeting you earlier._

_Lelouch, please forgive me and take good care of your health. Don’t miss any meals._

_Love you._

_Suzaku.”_

_  
_

Lelouch suddenly lost all of his strength and fell backwards onto the bookshelf. The note was still tight in his grip, and so was his heart.

“Idiot…” he mumbled.

“Suzaku you idiot!” he sobbed louder.

“I don’t care!” he screamed. “I don’t care about the war! You must come back! I’ll wait for you! I’ll wait…for you…Suzaku…”

* * *

The whole day had been a bad day for Lelouch. He fainted again in the library when Rakshata came to check on him. She claimed that Lelouch had been too depressed and lacked of nutrition. His blood level was lower than before and he had a high fever. This not only worried Rakshata, but Nunnally and also, the most worried one, Gino.

Rakshata told Nunnally that she would be there the whole day till Lelouch’s condition became better. She also said that Lelouch was not allowed to get down from the bed too often and he was to rest all the time.

When she was at the study room with Nunnally alone, where Gino would not be listening to their conversation as he was accompanying Lelouch, she sighed as she found out Lelouch’s depression was the cause of the absence of Vice Kururugi.

“It just has to happen now, doesn’t it? He’s fine in a minute and because of war it became worse. War had never been a good thing at all,” said Rakshata while her fingers tapped on the table lightly, and the other massaging her forehead.

Nunnally sighed, “Not only Lelouch is having a problem. Gino still isn’t sure of what’s going on. If I keep this longer, he’ll eventually end up like Lelouch. Then, it’s worst.”

“True. Nunnally, I suggest that you tell Gino soon. He’s a kid but his mentality is strong. A kid’s will is always stronger than an adult. I don’t think he’d end up like Lelouch that easily.”

“Hm…OK. I’ll tell him later.”

“Luckily I’m able to stay. What’s gonna happen if I’m not around when he, again, fainted so suddenly?” she sighed. Nunnally only looked down at the table, not thinking of the possible sad outcomes of all these things.

“Oh! And one more thing,” said Rakshata. “Make sure not to let him watch any news about the war. Lelouch won’t be able to hold on for another impact.”

Nunnally nodded. Rakshata sighed once again and laid back.

“Oh, Lelouch, stop making people worried.”

* * *

It was around midnight when all the moans sounded through Lelouch’s dark room…

_‘Lelouch…’ a faint voice called out._

_‘Suzaku?’_

_‘Lelouch…run…’_

_‘Suzaku! Where are you? This place is too dark. I can’t see you!’_

_‘Run, Lelouch! Don’t turn back!’ the voice panted._

_‘No! Suzaku! You’re coming with me!’_

_Suddenly, a scene of dead people appeared in front of him. He was kneeling on the ground with Suzaku in his arms, all bloody and cuts around his body._

_‘S-Suzaku…y-you’re bleeding…’ said Lelouch as he caressed Suzaku’s face. Lelouch was almost at the verge of tears._

_‘Lelouch…I love you…’_

_‘S-Suzaku…?’_

_His breathing was getting slower, and eventually, it came to a stop. His hand fell to the ground and his eyes stared blankly._

_‘Suzaku…Suzaku!’ he shook him violently, tears rolling down._

_‘Suzaku!!!’_

Lelouch reached out his hand into the air and sat up. There were tears rolling down from his eyes to his cheeks. He was sweating all over as he stared brightly into the dark.

“It was a dream,” he said to himself and slowly putting down his hand.

“It was…all a dream,” he said again. His breathing was calmer but he was still worried.

“Suzaku…” he whined and covered his face with his hand. He sobbed.

Then, he felt something crawled around his waist.

“Lulu…” Gino looked at him full of sorrow. Lelouch held up his head from his hand and looked at him. Oh, Gino! You’re just what he needs now.

He slowly brought Gino into a hug.

It was not difficult to lullaby him to sleep, but it was just impossible to pull him away from those dreams. They would appear again and again, till the day Suzaku came back.

* * *

 

Gino yawned. Even though everyday he woke up smiling and being cheerful around Lelouch, Lelouch would force out a tiny smile and asked Gino to go and play with Nunnally. Gino knew he did not want anyone to see him sad, or so it seems, but Gino just would not stop worrying about him. Only one hour not looking at Lelouch would make him go crazy. Now that he knew Lelouch was upset about Suzaku joining in the war, he never left Lelouch’s side at all.

He would read storybooks Nunnally lent him to Lelouch or play tic-tac-toe with him, make origami which he had learnt from Nunnally too, and sometimes he would feed Lelouch just like how Suzaku had done it before. Lelouch had always wanted to be alone but he just could not push away Gino’s kind offers. It was also difficult to persuade Gino that he was tired and wanted to sleep. He could finally take a rest when Nunnally came in to bring Gino out and Rakshata told him that she needed to check on Lelouch. Gino always left reluctantly.

Now, he was in the study room with Nunnally. He was learning to play chess but he could not understand at all. He got bored and wanted to leave for Lelouch. Nunnally quickly stood up and chased after him. But, she was stopped by Rakshata who just came in and let Gino accompanied Lelouch.

“Let him be, Nunnally,” said Rakshata.

“But Lelouch need to rest,” said Nunnally in a worried tone.

“Lelouch is asleep. Gino won’t wake him up, so don’t worry about it,” Rakshata walked into her study room and sat at the chair where Gino previously did. She looked at the chessboard and asked curiously.

“Do you think kids like to play this?”

“Well,” Nunnally said as she shut the door and sat across Rakshata. “I want to make him busy so he wouldn’t bother Lelouch.”

Rakshata sighed, “That’s not the way to do it, Nunnally. Kids would prefer games which are easier to understand. This one is a bit more complicated.”

“I know. I’m just killing time,” she sighed sadly.

Then, Rakshata moved a pawn while saying, “Lelouch told me that he couldn’t sleep well every night. That same dream had been haunting him all night. He said he needed some sleeping pills but I was reluctant to give it him. I wonder if I’m doing the right thing.”

Nunnally moved her white knight and trapped the soldier. She said, “I think it would be better to give him one or two. At least he could get the chance to sleep peacefully for a few nights.”

“I’m afraid he would be addicted to it. He might want to kill himself with those too. It’s dangerous.” She moved her black Queen.

“Just one or two won’t harm, right? As long as the bottle of pills isn’t near him. Then, he wouldn’t do anything ridiculous.” Nunnally moved her castle. “And if he wants to kill himself that badly, he has other tools to use, right? Not only the pills. Check.”

“Hm…” Rakshata looked at her black King. She moved it to the left.

“Check mate,” said Nunnally while moving her Queen. Rakshata sighed and laid back on the chair.

“You’re right. There are other ways to kill himself. However, according to his history, he’d suffered quite a lot since childhood. He’s not as fragile as we think he is, except those days where he’s been sick terribly because of food poisoning from the garbage.”

Nunnally swallowed hard, “That’s terrible.”

“Yup! Terrible indeed,” Rakshata stood up. “Well, I think I’ll call for someone to bring some pills here. I don’t really want to see him suffering. After all, I’m still a doctor.”

Nunnally sat back in her chair and sighed.

“I wish I could help him.”

* * *

How long had it been since the day Suzaku was gone? How long had he been lying on the bed? It felt like ages for Lelouch but he never wanted to find out how long had he been in that horrible state. The darkness was eating him up bit by bit, and so was the loneliness.

“Suzaku…when are you coming back?”

Day by day, he waited for an answer. How long was his patience going to last? Would he do anything stupid just for the sake of killing the pain?

“Suzaku…”

Lelouch hugged his knees and buried his face in between. He did not feel like sleeping, for the nightmare would come haunting him again. He had eaten the pills but what for? Only two of them would not help. Rakshata refused to give him the whole bottle. He understood the reason behind it but no matter how many of them, he still would not get to sleep peacefully.

Lelouch let out a heavy sigh and laid backwards on the headrest. He turned to stare at Gino, who was snoring lightly and sound asleep. He smiled. Kids could be so carefree even when the world had abandoned him, he would never care. Gino was abandoned by his parents right, but why? Were his parents even worried about him? What would happen if he saw his parents one day? Would he leave or stay? So many questions, and yet there were no answers. Anyhow, Lelouch was actually glad that Gino had been with him all the time. He needed that company.

Lelouch stared out the windows towards the only star that night. How wonderful it would be if Suzaku was here watching it with him?

No one knows, not even him.

* * *

“Lulu! Lulu!” The morning call from Gino. Lelouch was not sleeping but he pretended to be, so Gino would not be worried.

He slowly opened his eyes and sat up. He groaned as his vision towards the room swirled. He lay back on the headrest quickly and shut his eyes. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes, as small as it can go so as to avoid the dizziness in his head.

Rakshata shook the thermometer and put it into Lelouch’s mouth. Gino stared at that weird object. After a while, she took it out and looked at it. Gino followed her action but was not sure of what was he looking at. Rakshata then shook her head, which made Gino frowned.

“Lelouch, your fever is getting worse. Did you take too many sleeping pills?” she paused a while. “But that can't be. I gave you the right amount every day. Not more, not less.” She touched her chin, deeply in thought. “I think I’ll let you try some other types of pills.”

She stood up and packed. Gino looked at her then back to Lelouch who shut his eyes. Gino held Lelouch’s hand lightly, in a way to let Lelouch know he would be there all the time.

Lelouch, knowing it was Gino’s small hand; he smiled without opening his eyes.

“Gino, don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” he whispered. That only made Gino frowned more. If he was to talk, he would be saying, “You’re lying.”

Having finished packing her stuffs, Rakshata stood beside them and gazed at Gino for a while.

“Gino, Lelouch needs to rest. He’s not feeling very well. Why not you come with me to get some medicine for him?” she asked kindly with a smile.

Gino did not want to go.

“Gino…” Lelouch called out softly. “Why don’t you go with her? At least you’d know what medicine to feed me next time.”

Gino thought for a while. Then, he nodded and got off the bed. He walked towards Rakshata and said, “Gino follow.”

Rakshata patted his head and smiled, “Such a kind boy.” Then, she turned to Lelouch. “I’ll ask Sayoko to give you some light Panadol first, just to hold off your dizziness. Take a good rest and don’t try coming down from bed, okay?”

Lelouch nodded. When Rakshata was at the door, Sayoko came in with Lelouch’s breakfast. Rakshata told her the whereabouts of the Panadol and told her to only give two to Lelouch. Sayoko nodded and both Rakshata and Gino walked out of the room.

* * *

The Panadol did not help much, but at least Lelouch felt a bit lighter. Few nights straight for not being able to sleep were the one to cause all of his headaches and fever. He did not want to tell Rakshata as she would nag at him and forced him to sleep. He did not want to sleep, he did not want to dream it, and he did not want to feel the same feelings all over again and again. It was torturing him like hell. The only image that could cheer him (though a little) was Suzaku’s gentle smile.

He slowly shifted his legs to touch the ground. His head spun around as he tried to stand. He held at the side of his bed for support. Then, he walked slowly towards the door. He was thirsty but called no one for help.

He headed down the stairs, very slowly. Then, he heard the sound from the television in the living room. Nunnally was sitting in front of it on a sofa. The television was playing news report of the war.

The lady reporter was in the place where the war had taken place. A few Knightmares were battling each other.

“Viletta here,” she said loudly as to cover the bombing sound behind her. “It had been two months since the war had long started. However, there’s no sign of Britannia winning against the terrorists.”

Lelouch frowned and began to worry. The reporter continued.

“Here’s a newest report. One of the Knightmares had fallen. I was told that it was the Vice’s.”

Lelouch’s eyes widened. Nunnally let out a loud gasp, “Oh my!”

The reporter continued reporting but Lelouch could not bear to listen anymore. He walked, almost like floating, towards the kitchen. The scene from his dreams where Suzaku died in all sorts of forms was playing again and again in his mind. He needed pills. His head hurt too much.

He saw a try of medicine bottles on the kitchen table. He needed Panadol but his vision was blurry and could not read those words. Then, he took one of the bottles and poured some into his mouth. But, he did not feel any headaches retreating. Instead, it became worse.

He took another bottle and poured some out. He was not sure what pills were those, nor how many had he swallowed them. He thought he had gotten the right one because he felt lighter than before.

* * *

“Oh my!” Nunnally gasped as she heard the reporter said that the fallen Knightmare was Suzaku’s. Nunnally was about to switched off the news but then she waited. Maybe there would be a miracle.

She was right.

“Sorry! It isn’t the Vice’s but his comrade, a female pilot called Kallen. Her Knightmare had fallen but she was safe,” Nunnally let out a sigh.

“Hey! A miracle!” shouted another male reporter that popped out beside the female reporter’s screen. “Britannia is winning!” Nunnally lightened up. “Lady Cornelia had taken down 50 Knightmares at a time at the Southern part here!”

“Oh!” the lady reporter gasped. “Newest report! Vice Kururugi had also defeated a big amount of them at the Northern side, almost 70 of them in one shot!”

“Yes!” Nunnally shouted. At the same time, she heard a scream from Sayoko. She quickly ran towards that direction. She saw Sayoko covering her mouth staring in a terrified state. Nunnally followed her stare and immediately she let out a heavy gasped.

The kitchen floor was full of pills and bottles. Lelouch’s body was among the pills, lifeless and motionless. She went near him and shook him.

“Lelouch! Wake up! Lelouch!”

There were no responses. Quickly, she asked Sayoko to call for Rakshata. Sayoko did as was told immediately, though her fingers were fidgeting. Nunnally only sat there beside Lelouch and non-stop shouting and shaking Lelouch. She started to cry as she was afraid that something bad might happen to him.

* * *

“Clear off! It’s an emergency!” Rakshata shouted as she and her few nurses were pushing Lelouch towards the emergency ward. Nunnally were chasing behind. When the bed was pushed into the emergency ward, Nunnally was held back by a girl with pink long hair. It was Euphemia, the new mayor.

“Cecil and Rakshata will help him. We’ll just have to stay here and pray for his safety,” Euphemia assured her, though her expression said otherwise.

Euphemia stood there praying. Nunnally did the same but Gino was sobbing beside them.

“Sob…hic…Lulu…sob…”

* * *

“Yeah!” everyone in the headquarters dining hall cheered. “We won! The terrorists had finally declared to surrender!”

“They’d sacrificed too much. They should’ve retreated early.”

“All thanks to Vice, General, and Lady Cornelia!”

“Cheers!”

Suzaku was relieved as the war had finally ended. Now, he could go back happily and announce the good news to Lelouch. No. Maybe a surprise will do. He grinned as he thought of a great idea.

“Hey, Suzaku!” the drunk Kallen poked his shoulder with her elbow. Suzaku groaned as she had just poked his injury. “Oh! Sorry!” she laughed.

“It’s alright. What’s it, Kallen?”

“Heh!” she grinned. “You’re smiling very happily, I see. Wanna report your victory to your lover?” she laughed.

Suzaku blushed a little but said nothing.

“Hahaha! Got’cha!” she laughed and drank her bottle of wine.

“Oh! Since when, Suzaku? Why didn’t you announce it?” Tamaki said while pushing Kallen aside.

“Hey!” she yelled. “I’m here first!”

“Get back you drunken woman! So, when did it start?” Tamaki asked.

“Well…”

“Suzaku!” Ougi came running in and cut off Suzaku’s conversation. “Nunnally called.”

Suzaku turned to him immediately.

“She called from the hospital, saying that Lelouch… Hey! I’m not finish yet!”

Suzaku left his cup of wine there and quickly ran passed Ougi, and everyone, out of the room. Running out of the headquarters, he saw Clovis drove his car and stopped in front of Suzaku.

“Get in!” Clovis shouted.

Suzaku did not hesitate at all and quickly hopped in. He kept quiet throughout the whole journey. Clovis could see clearly that Suzaku’s face was full of worries. If it was an emergency call from Nunnally, something real bad must have happened.

“Lelouch…” Suzaku mumbled. “Wait for me. I’m coming now.”

 

_TBC_


	10. Love

Suzaku was putting on his shoes.

“I’ll be off then,” he called back to them.

“Be careful. And send our regards to him,” Cornelia replied.

“Wait, Suzaku!” Nunnally rushed out from her room. “Here, I’ve recorded new Shakespeare’s play. Let him listen to it.”

“Sure, thanks,” Suzaku smiled back and hugged them.

“Don’t give up just yet, okay? I’m sure he’s still there,” said Cornelia, trying to comfort Suzaku as she had always done when Suzaku hugged them affectionately.

“Yeah, there’s still hope,” Nunnally continued.

Suzaku broke the hug and smiled towards them before he went out of the house. He had just walked a few steps away from the house and stopped. He turned and looked back; the once large and luxurious house had become small and single storey. The house now only consists of the General’s family, him and Gino. All the other servants were sent back to where they belonged after the war.

He got into the car and drove towards the hospital. On his way, he looked around him. The environment had changed.

Two months had passed since the war ended. The terrorists were caught and some of them who had pledged to never disrupt peace were sent back home to their own country. Even though it was only two months, most of the war torn area was fixed and buildings were built up immediately. Many families had finally found each other; schools had been rebuilt again; anything that needed to be repaired was done perfectly. Everything in the country had become whole and everyone had their own new lives once again. Suzaku loved this new environment, and the first one he really wanted to share it with, was now sleeping in the hospital.

Once he had reached the hospital, he went straight towards a personal patient ward. That was where Lelouch had been lying asleep for two months.

He opened the door and saw that Cecile and Euphemia were in the room. They both saw him and greeted.

“’Morning, how is he?” Suzaku asked as he set down the things he had brought.

“He’s fine and he’s been healing very well too,” Cecile answered.

“I see. Good to know,” Suzaku replied with a sad smile.

Euphemia went near him and patted on his shoulder. She said, “As long as you’re here, he’ll know and he’ll be up anytime soon. Just be patient, okay?”

Suzaku nodded and said, “Thanks for looking after him.”

“No problem,” said Cecile. “Anyway, since you’re already here, I’ll go check on other patients. See you later.”

“I’ll be going to. I’m having a meeting in a while about the coming festival. Oh! Suzaku, do come for the festival this weekend. There’ll be some stalls and fireworks at night, starting at seven. It’ll be held in the park,” said Euphemia with joy. “Bring the whole General’s family too.”

“Sure,” Suzaku smiled and sent them out of the room.

The room was back to silence. He went back to the table beside Lelouch’s bed, took out the little radio and plugged in the switch. Then, he played the tape in it. It was Nunnally’s voice, reading out Shakespeare’s plays for Lelouch. Suzaku then sat down, one hand held onto Lelouch’s, while the other caressed his face. Suzaku looked at him dearly.

“Lelouch, the General’s family sends their regards to you. And, this tape, you recognize the voice don’t you? It’s Nunnally again. She’s recorded your favorite story for you to listen.”

Then, he paused as he waited for any reaction. But, there were none. He continued, “By the way, I’m sorry for not bringing Gino with me. He had started his school today. But, don’t worry about it. I’ve made sure that he’ll be enjoying the school and make lots of friends. Ah! Talking about his friends, he had already targeted a girl. I was shocked too when suddenly Gino turned beet red when he was looking at some pink haired girl. Once he saw her, he had totally forgotten about not wanting to go to school. Though that girl seemed like a very cool person, she did accepted Gino’s offer to be his friend. Isn’t he cute?” Suzaku laughed. There were no reaction from Lelouch, but Suzaku believed that everything he had said went straight into Lelouch’s brain. Still, he preferred the smiling Lelouch looking at him while listening and laughing at the same time. Suzaku’s smile dropped.

Bringing up Lelouch’s hand to his cheek, he caressed it and said, “Lelouch, when are you going to wake up? You’ve been sleeping for far too long. Everyone’s worried about you, especially me. There’re so many things I want to show you. And the festival, I want to go with you too.”

Suzaku was almost in the verge of tears. He had been talking to him since two months ago and was always hoping Lelouch would wake up or suddenly tell a joke. He felt very desperate as there was nothing he could do to wake him up.

Suzaku stopped talking and just stared at Lelouch. He remembered back the memories he had had with Lelouch and non-stop repeating them again and again, till he finally worn himself out and slept.

Somewhere in the middle of the sleep, there was a twitch and the eyelids were trying to open.

_“It’s not your time yet, Lelouch. Go…make them smile once again. I’ll always be here beside you. And remember, Mom loves you best.”_

* * *

 

Epilogue

Ten years had passed and they were now living in a cottage just out of town. There were lots of plants, vegetables and fruits in the big land just outside their little cottage. It was peaceful all day long, unless something was triggered.

“Gino! How long have you been playing that nonsense? Get in here and have your breakfast!”

Wonder who that would be?

“A minute! I’m winning soon!”

“If you don’t come here right now, I swear I’m gonna throw that away!”

“Alright, alright! I’m coming!” Gino shouted back and quickly turned off the play station after he had finally won that round. He got into the kitchen and sat at the small dining table. “What’s for breakfast, Lulu?” he asked cheerfully, as if the scolding never happened.

“Just an egg for you, and stop calling me Lulu, you’re not that chubby anymore,” Lelouch replied angrily. Indeed, the once calm and quiet Lelouch had changed.

Gino pouted, “Aww…but I’m still Gino, you can’t just say no to me. And besides, an egg won’t be enough for me. I still have sports practice in an hour.”

Lelouch glared at him, but Gino acted as cute as possible. Lelouch, no match for cute things, gave up and added another egg and two sausages. Gino thanked him cheerfully and started eating.

“Be sure you get here when I first call you. Get it?” Lelouch asked. Gino nodded as his mouth was too full. Lelouch frowned, “Eat slowly, don’t choke.”

“Honey, I’m back! The General gave us some new fertilizers for the plants. He said it was imported and of good quality,” Suzaku called from the door.

“Just leave it outside first. Come in for breakfast, you’ve been out since early in the morning,” Lelouch called back.

Suzaku walked into the kitchen with a wide smile.

“Morning, Gino. How’s that level doing?” Suzaku asked, but soon regretted as he realize a deadly aura emerging not far from him. Gino only smiled and invited him to sit opposite him. Suzaku went to sit quietly and brought the plate of food in front of him nearer. Trying to make the atmosphere better, he said, “Wow! Sunny side ups and sausages! My favorite! Thank you, honey.”

“You’re most welcome,” Lelouch replied with a smile. “But there’s another thing I would like you to do other than thanking me.”

“What’s it?” Suzaku asked cheerfully, but he knew something bad is about to happen. Soon enough, he experienced it.

Lelouch pinched Suzaku’s ear and twisted it. Suzaku’s expression explained that it was very, very painful, but he did not scream. “Le-Lelouch…lighter…please…”

“If I ever see you playing that game with Gino again, I’m going to kick you out of here. Understand?” Lelouch asked fiercely.

“B-But…it was only for a…AHH!! Okay, okay! I won’t do it again! I swear!” Suzaku replied quickly as Lelouch added his strength. Gino on the other side gulped down the food hard and pretended as if he saw nothing.

Lelouch let go of it and continued pouring milk for all three of them. Then, he sat down and enjoyed his breakfast. He was very please of himself as he was able to make better food from day to day. Suzaku, on the other hand, was trying hard not to fan his ear while eating breakfast.

After a few minutes of eating, Gino was the one to break the silence. He got up from his place and placed his dishes into the sink. He washed all of them before heading back to his room. After a while, Gino came out in his sports attires and he called to them from the front door, “I’m going to school now!”

“When will you be back?” Lelouch asked.

“Around lunch time! Don’t miss me! Bye!” Gino replied and shut the door.

Back in the kitchen, both Suzaku and Lelouch were eating quietly. Suzaku, hated the quiet atmosphere, tried to think about something to break the silence.

“Lelouch, are you doing anything later?”

“No, I’m not doing anything, just some dishes to wash, some clothes to dry, a car to wash, a house to clean and a cupboard of messy clothes to arrange,” Lelouch replied. Though it did not seem so, but Suzaku knew he was being sarcastic, and Suzaku felt bad about the cupboard thing. It was definitely Suzaku’s cupboard since he always dug out the clothes and never arranged them back properly. It was not because he did not want to do it, but he always had no time to do so, since he was still in the military and sometimes he would get an emergency call and he would simply pull out all the clothes, put on and quickly left. But, as for today, he had asked permission from the General to give him a week’s break, in the reason of wanting to spend more time with Lelouch, since he was not able to do so last week. So, he had to come out of an idea to be with Lelouch this whole week.

“I’ll help out. We can both do them together,” said Suzaku.

“Really?” Lelouch replied as he ate.

“Yes, I’ll definitely help you, no slacking at all,” Suzaku smiled cheerfully.

“Okay, then you’ll wash the dishes and I’ll go hang out the clothes,” said Lelouch and he got up and headed towards the back door.

Suzaku only looked on as Lelouch walked out. He did say ‘together’ right? So why did not Lelouch listened? Lelouch must still be angry about him. Anyways, Suzaku quickly cleaned up the dishes and went out to Lelouch.

Suzaku was hanging their clothes, while trying to think of something to talk about. But, whenever he thought of one, he could not manage to say it out as Lelouch had looked strict and it scared him. While thinking of another idea, he wanted to take the clothes but instead he held onto Lelouch’s hand. Immediately, it struck him. He pulled Lelouch towards him and kissed him.

Lelouch pushed away and looked up. His face was red and his eyes were angry. Suzaku only smiled and hugged Lelouch tightly. Lelouch struggled but Suzaku was not going to let go that easily.

“Are you going to let go, or not?” Lelouch asked. Suzaku only shook his head. Lelouch struggled again, hitting Suzaku on his chest and tried to push himself away but it did not bugged Suzaku at all. Suzaku only smiled.

After much struggle, Lelouch gave up. Instead, he asked, “How am I supposed to finish all the house chores today if you’re not going to let me go?”

“I said we’ll do it together, so it’ll be done faster,” Suzaku replied.

“And this? You think it’ll be done faster like this?” Lelouch fired back.

“No, but it’s been long since I last had the real chance to hold you and properly looked into your beautiful amethyst eye. It’s so…mesmerizing,” Suzaku’s words became softer as he was totally immersed into the sight of Lelouch’s eyes. It was long, too long, and because he was not able to do things like this for so long, he was stuck immediately.

Lelouch, too, had not had the chance to look so clearly for a long time. Now that he had the chance, he too did not want to get away from Suzaku at all.

“Lelouch…” Suzaku asked without turning his eyes away.

“Hm?” Lelouch replied, doing the same as Suzaku.

“Do you mind?”

“Mind what?”

And then, there was silence again. But, this time, it was not awkward; instead, it was too blazing for the passersby. The both of them had immersed themselves into the deep pool of love. It had been long, too long, since they really had a chance to have such a passionate kiss, under the warm sunlight.

 

_End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's the end of the whole story. Reading back and editing it again, certain parts I felt like changing it totally, but decided not to. It's something my younger self wrote and used to be proud of, so I guess I'll just leave it as it is. If you think it was good, please do "kudos" me! Thank you and I hope to see you again soon.


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